Falcons Fall At Butler, 81-69, Thursday

March 14, 2002

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -

Bowling Green's loss at Butler ends the Falcons' 2001-02 season with a record of 24-9 ... Butler, now 26-5 on the year, will advance to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament to face Syracuse on the road Monday.

The game marked the final collegiate contest for BGSU's four seniors -- Brent Klassen, Len Matela, Keith McLeod and Brandon Pardon ... the four players helped the Brown and Orange to an overall record of 79-41 over the last four years.

Matela, in his final game, scored a career-high 31 points against the Bulldogs ... he went 12-of-16 from the field, tying his career best in field goals made in a game ... Matela's previous career-best scoring effort was 28 points, set in a pair of games against arch-rival Toledo (Jan. 15, 2000, and Jan. 19, 2002).

In the Butler game, Matela made the first three-point field goal of his collegiate career ... the hoop represented his only long-distance attempt this season ... he entered the game 0-for-5 from three-point range in his BGSU career.

As was the case for much of the season, the seniors provided a large portion of the team's scoring in the Butler game ... in addition to Matela's 31 points, McLeod had 23 and Pardon eight ... Matela and McLeod, the MAC's top-scoring duo in each of the last two seasons (averaged a combined 34.2 ppg in league games in 2000-01 and 38.8 this season), combined for 54 points on the night, or 78.3% of BGSU's total ... Pardon had eight points, giving the seniors 62 points (89.9%) vs. the Bulldogs.

McLeod finishes his career with a total of 1,895 points, the second-highest total in school history ... he ends his BGSU tenure just 43 points behind school record-holder Anthony Stacey, who had 1,938 points from 1995-2000 ... McLeod achieved his total despite missing the fall semester of his first season, 1998-99.

Matela's 31-point effort vs. BU enabled him to move up two spots on the career scoring list, to finish in ninth place ... in Thursday's game, Matela vaulted past both Marcus Newbern (1,504 points from 1978-82) and David Jenkins (1,525 points from 1980-84) to finish his career with a total of 1,527 career points ... Matela ends his career ranked third in school history in both rebounds and field-goal percentage.

Pardon had nine assists Thursday, giving him a BGSU career total of 529 ... that total, amassed in just two-and-a-half years, is the third-highest in school history, behind only David Greer (768 assists from 1980-83) and Antonio Daniels (563 asts. from 1994-97) ... Pardon led the MAC in assists in each of the last two seasons, joining the aforementioned two players as the only Falcons ever to lead the league in that category in consecutive years.

Head coach Dan Dakich finishes his fifth season with a record of 89-57 and a winning pct. of .610 ... over the last four seasons, Dakich has a 79-41 (.658) mark and an average of 19.75 wins per season ... he is 55-35 (.611) in MAC play, including 48-24 (.667) over the last four years ... BGSU has put together its best four-year record since 1946-50.

McLeod finished with a total of 755 points on the season, the third-highest total in school history ... he averaged 22.9 points on the year, good for sixth on that BGSU list ... McLeod set school records for free throws made in a career and three-point field goals made in a season and a career.

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Falcons Fall At Butler, 81-69, Thursday

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