Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Kent State Too Much For Men's Basketball, 71-64
March 08, 2001 | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2001
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Second-seeded Kent State University started fast and held on for a 71-64 victory over the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team. The Flashes and Falcons met in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Cleveland's Gund Arena.
The Falcons, the seventh seed for the league tourney, dropped to 15-14 with the loss. KSU improved to 21-9 on the year.
The Golden Flashes scored the first eight points of the game, and led by as many as 11 (32-21) in the first half. After the Falcons cut the margin to four points early in the second stanza, a 7-0 KSU run built the lead back to 11, at 46-35, with 14:09 left.
The Brown and Orange rallied, however, cutting the lead to two points on a layup by junior Keith McLeod at the 7:02 mark. BG got as close as a single point after McLeod was fouled while attempting a three-point shot. He made all three charity tosses to make it a 55-54 game with 5:16 left. But, the Falcons could not tie the Golden Flashes, and KSU went a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the game's final minute.
For the Falcons, McLeod had 27 points, just two off his career best. He was 8-of-18 from the floor and made 10 free throws in 13 attempts.
Another junior, Len Matela, had a 23-point night, sinking 10 of his 15 shots from the field. Matela and McLeod, the MAC's top-scoring duo during the league season (a combined 34.2 ppg), combined for 50 of the Falcons' 64 points in the game.
Matela, McLeod and fellow junior Brandon Pardon each played the entire 40 minutes.
Redshirt freshman Kevin Netter was the team's third-leading scorer, with seven points off the bench. His five rebounds placed him behind only Matela's total of eight.
KSU was led by Trevor Huffman's 19 points, while Andrew Mitchell was close behind with 18 and Demetric Shaw added 13.
In the contest, Matela moved past the 1,000-point mark for his career. He now has a career total of 1,002 points. McLeod, who surpassed that plateau earlier in the year, now has 1,140 points in his three years as a Falcon.
