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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Men's Basketball Team Records 20th Win
February 19, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2000
Bowling Green, Ohio -
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team kept pace with Kent in the race for the top spot in the Mid-American Conference East Division by defeating Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon at Anderson Arena by a score of 86-75. With the win, BG improves to 20-6 overall and 12-4 in loop action. Kent won earlier in the day over Akron to improve to 13-4 in conference play.
This year's squad became only the 11th team in school history to record 20 or more wins while extending their home winning streak to 16 games. BG also completed the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record at home, only the fourth time a BG men's team has compiled a perfect home record in the 39 years Anderson Arena has served as their home. It is only the ninth time since basketball started at Bowling Green in 1915-16, that a team has compiled an unblemished record at home for a season.
Eastern Michigan led only once in the game, a 24-23 advantage at the 5:23 mark of the first half. The Eagles were never tied with the Falcons at any point.
Bowling Green scored the first seven points of the game for its biggest advantage in the early going before a 6-0 run by the Eagles gave them their only lead.
The Falcons answered by scoring six straight points of their own, to take a 29-24 lead at the 2:51 mark. The Falcons settled for a six-point lead at the break.
The Falcons steadily built a double digit advantage early in the second half before breaking the game open with a 12-1 run which put the Falcons ahead by a 62-42 count at the 11:38 mark. The 11-point difference in the final score was a close as Eastern Michigan would get the rest of the way.
Junior Trent Jackson had seven of BG's points in the deciding run.
The Falcons, fourth in the country shooting over 50% from the field for the season, shot a blistering 61.0% for the game and 73.9% in the second half to claim the victory.
Sophomore Len Matela led the Falcons with 24 points and 13 rebounds, 18 points and nine of those rebounds in the second half. Four other BG players scored in double figures as the Falcons put five players in double figures for the seventh time this season.
