Bowling Green State University
Miami (OH)
Men's Basketball Falls In OT
March 05, 2000 | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2000
Cleveland, OH -
The Bowling Green men's basketball team suffered a 58-56 overtime setback to Miami in Mid-American Conference Tournament action Sunday afternoon (March 5) at Gund Arena in downtown Cleveland. The Falcons, now 22-7 overall, must wait until next Sunday (March 12) to find out if the 1999-2000 season will continue with national postseason play.
BGSU, the MAC East Division champion and the tourney's number-one seed, led by a 54-51 margin before MU's Jason Grunkemeyer hit a three-pointer from 35 feet at the regulation buzzer to force the overtime period.
In the overtime period, Len Matela's basket with 4:11 remaining turned out to be the only scoring BG could muster. The RedHawks took the lead on a Jason Stewart three-pointer with 1:06 left and added a Rich Allendorf free throw with 14 seconds remaining.
BG had a final chance in the overtime period, but Dave Esterkamp's contested three-point attempt bounced off the back of the rim as time expired. The Falcons missed their final six shot attempts from the field in overtime. BGSU, after entering the game ranked first in the MAC and second in the nation in field-goal percentage, hit less than 40 percent of their shots for just the second time all year. The Brown and Orange went 19-of-54 (.352) from the floor.
Miami opened the game by scoring the first five points, and the ninth-seeded RedHawks held leads of 9-2 and 14-6 before the Falcons came battling back, with senior Anthony Stacey doing much of the damage. Stacey, the Falcons' career scoring leader, scored nine points as the Falcons went on a 17-2 run over a 4:28 span to open a 23-16 lead. Stacey had a game-high 22 points and now has 1,927 career markers.
Miami reeled off seven consecutive points to tie the contest before Brandon Pardon's triple at the buzzer gave the Falcons a 26-23 halftime edge.
The second half featured seven ties and five lead changes, with neither team leading by more than six points. MU went on a 7-1 run, capped by a pair of Mike Ensminger free throws, to take a 47-41 edge with 5:23 remaining. After a pair of Esterkamp charity tosses, an Allendorf layup gave MU a six-point edge once again before the Falcons made a run.
Baskets by Stacey and Matela cut the lead to two points, and another Stacey hoop tied the game at 49-49 with 2:17 left. Grunkemeyer hit at the 1:39 mark, but BGSU reeled off the next five points, sparked by a Matela three-point play with 1:11 left.
Stacey's two free throws put the Falcons up, 54-51, with 29 seconds left in regulation, setting the stage for Grunkemeyer's heroics.
BG's defense held Miami's leading scorer, Anthony Taylor, without a point on the day. Taylor, who entered the game with a team-high average of 17.6 points per game, was 0-of-9 from the field.
Rob Mestas, who played all 45 minutes, led three RedHawks in double figures with 17 points. Ensminger and Grunkemeyer added 12 and 11, respectively.
Stacey, who also played every minute of the contest, had seven rebounds, one shy of Trent Jackson's team-high total.
Pardon added 11 points, including three three-pointers. He also played all 45 minutes of the game.
Miami improved to 14-14 on the season, and will face Marshall in a semifinal game Monday.
The Falcons, who saw a six-game winning streak come to an end, are in limbo until next Sunday. The NCAA Tournament field of 64 teams will be announced at 6:30 p.m. ET that day, while the National Invitation Tournament field will be determined later that night.
