Bowling Green State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Battles Western Michigan, Toledo This Week
January 12, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2000
THIS WEEK: Bowling Green continues Mid-American Conference action this week with two games. The Falcons travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. Wednesday for the 7 p.m. game against Western Michigan before returning home for a Saturday encounter with rival Toledo which will tip off at 1 p.m. In fact, the game Wednesday against Western Michigan begins a stretch of four games in eight days with the Falcons playing at Central Michigan on Jan. 17 before hosting Miami on Jan. 19.
THE RECORDS: The Falcons have won their last five and nine in a row at home...they begin the week with an 11-2 overall record and a 3-0 mark in MAC action...BG has won 18 of its last 22 games dating back to February of last season...BG is 4-2 on the road this season and 5-0 at home...Western Michigan will bring a 4-8 overall mark and an 0-3 MAC record into the game on Wednesday...they have lost their last two and are 2-2 at home this season...Toledo, which hosts Marshall on Wednesday, is 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the MAC...Toledo has lost its last two and four of its last five...UT is 2-1 at home this season.
SERIES NOTES: Bowling Green and Western Michigan will tangle for the 94th time with the Falcons holding a 62-31 edge...the two teams have split the last eight meetings...BG holds a slim 26-20 series edge in games played on the road in the series...WMU has won three of the last four at home, including an 81-75 decision in the 1997-98 season...the last three games played in Kalamazoo have been decided by a total of 11 points...Bowling Green and Toledo are meeting for the 141st time with the Rockets holding a 71-69 edge...BG swept both games last season winning 70-64 at home and 57-46 on the road...BG has a 43-23 edge at home in the series over the years...BG has won eight of the last nine played in Anderson Arena with five of those games decided by eight points or less...overall, BG holds an 8-2 edge over Toledo in the last 10 games.
LAST WEEK: The Falcons ran their winning streak to five games with victories over Northern Illinois (72-54) and Buffalo (96-90)...in the win over Northern Illinois, an early 15-2 run gave the Falcons a 19-6 edge...after BG led by eight points at the break, the Falcons put the game away with a 13-2 run in the second half which put them ahead by a 45-26 count at the 13:06 mark...BG led by double figures the rest of the way, by as much as 26 points at one time...Dave Esterkamp led the Falcons with 17 points and nine rebounds while Anthony Stacey added 15 markers...BG shot 50.9% from the floor while holding NIU to just 34.9 percent shooting...in the win over Buffalo, BG built a big second-half edge and then held on for the victory...the Falcons made 12 of their first 15 shots from the field and opened up a 24-2 lead at the 12:42 mark...Buffalo came back to close the gap to 13 points (46-33) at the break...BG again made a run at the beginning of the second half, a 15-3 run, to take a 63-39 lead at the 15:33 mark...BG led by as many as 28 points (76-48 at the 8:56 mark) before Buffalo made it interesting...the Bulls got it under 10 points for the first time at the 2:53 mark (84-76) and closed to within four points on three occasions in the last minute, but in each case BG made its free throws to secure the victory...BG made its last six free tosses and 20-of-21 in the second half...Esterkamp led the Falcons 21 points while Len Matela added 19 points and 12 points and Stacey also had 19 markers.
STACEY EYEING RECORDS: Senior forward Anthony Stacey (Elyria, Ohio/Grafton Midview) comes into his final season with a chance to put his name among the elite who have played at Bowling Green. Stacey, a first-team All-MAC selection last season, needs just 205 points (13.7 average in the 15 remaining regular season games) to become the career scoring leader and just six steals to take over the top spot in that category. The least amount of points he has scored in any of his three previous full seasons was 433 and the smallest number of steals he has had in a season was 36. He is now fifth on the BG career scoring list with 1,630 points while his 196 steals are second on that list. He also has become one of only 14 players who have collected 600 or more rebounds with 657 in his career, ninth on the all-time BG list. Stacey also ranks 11th in school history having shot 50.4% from the field. He could finish his career as high as fifth on the BG career rebounding list. A second-team all-district pick of the coaches last season, he averaged 18.5 points and 5.6 rebounds with 13 efforts of 20 or more points. Stacey was a first-team preseason All-MAC selection and has been tabbed by several preseason magazines as the Player of the Year in the conference. Through 13 games this season, he is averaging 14.9 points, first on the team, 5.8 rebounds, second on the team, 2.3 assists, fourth on the team, 1.9 steals, first on the squad, while shooting 46.5% from the floor, 37.5% from three-point range, and 79.0% from the charity stripe. He has been hampered by a dislocated finger on this shooting hand the last month and a sprained left ankle for the last two weeks
FAST START: The 6-0 start by the Falcons this season was the fifth-best start in school history and the best since the 1947-48 squad started with seven wins in a row...the other four best starts all occurred in the 1940s...the Falcons went into their game Dec. 11 against Northern Iowa as one of only 22 (there are 318 programs across the country) Div. I program left without a loss...the six-game win streak was the longest since 1991-92 when that team also won six in a row in the middle portion of the season...the 11-2 record ties them with the 1937-38 squad for the eighth-most wins by any team in school history with only two losses.
TIME CHANGES: The start time for all three Bowling Green games which will be televised as part of the MAC package have been changed. The Feb. 5 game with Ohio at Anderson Arena has been changed to noon from 1 p.m. The Feb. 7 game at Toledo will now start at 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. and the Feb. 12 game at Miami which was originally scheduled to start at 3 p.m. will now tip off at noon.
MAC START: The 3-0 start in league play is the best since the 1982-83 team started with three consecutive wins. The last time a BG team started MAC play with four wins was the 1961-62 season when that squad won its first seven league contests.
BOWLING GREEN FAST FACTS: The Falcons have won nine in a row at home and 24 of their last 29 against MAC foes...the Falcons have now won five in a row overall after winning six in a row earlier this season...BG was 18th in the country in the NCAA statistics last week in field goal percentage and 10th in free throw percentage...BG has shot over 50% from the field in five of their last six games and are now shooting over the break-even mark for the season at 50.1% to lead the MAC...senior Dave Esterkamp (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) has led the team in scoring in each of the last three games shooting 75.0% (21-of-28) from the floor and averaging 20.3 points...he needs only 148 points to join the 1,000-point club...he is third on the team in scoring and rebounding while shooting 63.0% on his two-point field goals this season...he is also second on the squad in assists and steals...he had 17 points and nine rebounds in the win over Northern Illinois and 21 points and eight rebounds against Buffalo...sophomore Len Matela (Merrillville, Ind./Andrean) had a strong game against Buffalo scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds...he leads the team in rebounding at 7.7 per game while shooting 60.0% from the floor and averaging 11.1 points per game...sophomore Brandon Pardon (Van Wert, Ohio/Lincolnview H.S./Wright State) came off the bench to play 33 minutes in the Buffalo game and hand out nine assists...he is averaging 5.7 assists in the six games he has played since becoming eligible after transferring...junior Trent Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Franklin H.S./Ohio State) had his best scoring game in a couple weeks with 13 points in the win over Buffalo...he had scored just 19 points in the previous four contests...he is one of five BG players averaging in double figures at 10.9 points...sophomore Keith McLeod (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) is second on the team in scoring and had 25 points in the two games last week despite a sore thumb on his left hand (non-shooting hand)...he leads the MAC in three-point field goal percentage and ranked fifth in the nation last week.
WESTERN MICHIGAN NOTES: Head coach Bob Donewald is in his 11th season with the Broncos having compiled a 144-145 record...in 22 seasons of collegiate coaching, Donewald has a 353-268 record...WMU has played their last three games without leading scorer Tony Barksdale who was suspended...his status for this week is uncertain...he is second in the MAC in scoring having averaged 20.2 points in the nine games he has played...two of WMU's league losses have been by one point - a 127-126 overtime loss to Marshall at home and a 68-67 loss to Northern Illinois on the road...guard Rod Brown (6-1, Sr.) is the leading scorer among the starters at 10.2 points while he is second in the MAC in assists at 6.3 per game...Brown had 18 points to lead the Broncos in their last game - the loss to Northern Illinois...the other guard is junior Bronson Nichols (6-4, Jr.) who is averaging 1.0 points...center Brad VanTimmeren (6-7, Sr.) is averaging 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds while Taylor Bro (6-7, Fr.) and Jon Powell (6-5, Jr.) hold down the forward slots...Bro averages 4.7 points and Powell is at 8.3 points...Powell has 13 three-point field goals to rank third on the team...the top player off the bench, guard Thadus Williams (6-4, Sr.), is averaging 12.4 points and has 17 "threes" to rank second behind Barksdale (22 three-pointers)...Williams is shooting 32.7% from beyond the arc...eight different players have started games for the Broncos...center Emil Mulic (6-9, Sr.) averages almost 19 minutes off the bench averaging 5.7 points.
TOLEDO NOTES: Head coach Stan Joplin is in his fourth season with the Rockets and has a 54-43 record...UT lost both conference games last week by three points - 88-85 at Ball State in overtime and 82-79 at home to Akron...Toledo will be without the services of their top player - junior forward Greg Stempin (6-8) - who injured his elbow in the Akron loss...he is averaging 16.9 points and 8.0 rebounds, both figures lead the team...guard Justin Hall (6-3, So.) is next in line scoring at a 15.7 clip while grabbing 6.0 rebounds and handing out 3.2 assists...he has led the Rockets in scoring in each of their last three games averaging 20.7 points over the period...he has 15 three-pointers shooting 31.3%...the other starting guard is Chad Kamstra (6-1, Sr.) who is averaging 11.3 points and leads the team with 34 three-pointers...he is shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc...Kamstra had 19 points in the loss to Akron...forward Robierre Cullars (6-4, Jr.) is the only other player who has started 10 or more games...he is averaging 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds...Toledo has 90 more turnovers than assists this season...UT has played 12 of its 15 games this season away from home...besides their two losses by three points last week, they have lost two other games this season by three points.
NEXT WEEK: The Falcons will travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. for a Jan. 17 contest at 7 p.m. before returning home for a Jan. 19 date with Miami at Anderson Arena. That game will also tip off at 7 p.m. The Falcons then have a week off before facing Kent on the road on Jan. 26.
Probable Bowling Green Starters
F - Dave Esterkamp, 6-7, 220, Sr., 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg F - Anthony Stacey, 6-4, 235, Sr., 14.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg C - Len Matela, 6-9, 220, So., 11.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg G - Keith McLeod, 6-2, 185, So., 14.8 ppg, 3.2 apg G - Brandon Pardon, 6-1, 185, So., 4.8 ppg, 5.7 apg Off The Bench G - Trent Jackson, 6-4, 205, Jr., 10.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg G - Graham Bunn, 6-1, 170, So., 3.6 ppg, 2.0 apg C - Brent Klassen, 6-8, 220, So., 3.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg
Compare The Teams
( ) - MAC RankBowling Green Scoring: 77.4 ppg (4) Scoring Margin: +10.1 (4) FG%: 50.1% (1) 3-Pt. FG%: 37.6% (4) FT%: 76.1% (2) Pts. Allowed: 67.3 ppg (3) FG% Defense: 42.6% (8) Reb. Margin: +1.5 (3)
Western Michigan Scoring: 77.3 ppg (t5) Scoring Margin: -2.3 (11) FG%: 43.8% (7) 3-Pt. FG%: 31.3% (11) FT%: 71.0% (5) Pts. Allowed: 79.6 ppg (12) FG% Defense: 46.7% (12) Reb. Margin: +0.1 (10)
Toledo Scoring: 68.6 ppg (11) Scoring Margin: -1.3 (10) FG%: 43.1% (8) 3-Pt. FG%: 34.4% (6) FT%: 65.4% (10) Pts. Allowed: 69.9 ppg (9) FG% Defense: 42.0% (5 Reb. Margin: +0.2 (9)
BG Individuals Among MAC Leaders
Scoring 14. Anthony Stacey, 14.9 ppg 16. Keith McLeod, 14.5 ppg Rebounding 8. Len Matela, 7.7 rpg FG% none Assists none Free Throw % 8. Anthony Stacey, 79.0% 9. Dave Esterkamp, 78.8% Steals t9. Anthony Stacey, 1.9 spg 3-Pt. % 1. Keith McLeod, 57.1% 3-Pt. FG 6. Keith McLeod, 2.2/game
