Falcons 60, Akron 58

March 7, 2002

CLEVELAND, Ohio -

The Falcons' 60-58 win over Akron gives BGSU a record of 23-7 on the season ... the win total is BGSU's most in a season since the decade of the 1940's ... the last team to win more than 23 games was the 1948-49 squad ... the list of top win totals in school history:

Year     Record
1946-47  28-7
1945-46  27-5
1947-48  27-6
1944-45  24-4
1948-49  24-7
2001-02  23-7

The Falcons advance to the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament for the first time since 1999 ... BGSU's win was the team's first at a neutral site in the league tourney in 11 years, since a 66-58 win over Ohio in the 1991 MAC Tournament's quarterfinal round at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Mich.

The Falcons are now 2-2 all-time at Gund Arena ... BGSU had lost quarterfinal games in the MAC Tournament in each of the last two years, to Miami in 2000 and Kent State in 2001 ... the team's previous win at Gund was a 91-86 victory over Cleveland State in the Rock -N- Roll Shootout in December of 1999.

Senior Keith McLeod, the MAC Player of the Year, had 29 points, including the winning three-pointer with 6.0 seconds left after Akron had taken a one-point lead with 12.4 seconds remaining ... McLeod now has 15 games of 20 points or more this season, including 12 such games away from Anderson Arena.

McLeod and classmate Len Matela, the MAC's top scoring duo in conference games in each of the last two years, continued that trend in the first game of the 2001-02 postseason ... the pair combined for 44 of the Falcons' 60 points in the win over Akron.

McLeod scored 18 of his points in the first half, nearly outscoring UA by himself (the Zips had 20 points in the half) ... McLeod, who had BG's first 10 points of the game, made five field goals to the Zips' total of four in the opening 20 minutes ... when McLeod cooled down early in the second half, Matela stepped up ... Matela scored nine of the Falcons' first 13 points of the half ... then, McLeod had nine of BG's final 11 points of the night.

McLeod's 29-point evening moved him past Antonio Daniels into third place on the BGSU career scoring list ... McLeod now has 1,816 points in his career, surpassing Daniels' total of 1,789 ... next in McLeod's sights are second-place Howard Komives (1,834 points) and the school's all-time leader, Anthony Stacey (1,938).

Freshman Germain Fitch picked an opportune time to have a season-high scoring total ... had 10 points off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting ... all three of his second-half baskets came at key times ... after UA had cut the lead to two points for the first time in the second half, 45-43 with 6:42 left, Fitch hit a short jumper on the ensuing possession ... then, Akron cut the lead to one points, 47-46, with 5:14 left, and Fitch answered just 15 seconds later ... his final hoop came after Akron took the lead for the first time all night, at 54-53 on a Rashon Brown bucket ... after a BG 30-second timeout, Fitch converted a jumper at the 2:39 mark.

The Falcons never trailed until that Brown hoop with 2:53 left ... that was the first of six lead changes in the final three minutes, the last coming on McLeod's game-winning trey.

BGSU is now 30-16 in games decided by six points or less in the Dan Dakich Era, and the Falcons are 9-3 in such games this year ... BGSU was 9-1 in similar games during the MAC Championship season of 2000.

BGSU is now 18-0 in the last three years when an opponent shoots less than 40 percent from the field (UA shot .378) ... the Falcons are now 9-1 this year when the opponent has fewer than 10 offensive rebounds (BGSU outrebounded UA, 35-21, and allowed the Zips only five offensive boards).

The Falcons, the tournament's third-seeded team, will meet second-seeded Ball State in Friday's semifinal round ... BGSU holds a 31-28 lead in the all-time series between the teams, but the Cardinals have won the last six games and 10 of the last 11 meetings ... BSU won this year's lone meeting, a 92-79 decision in Muncie (Jan. 16, 2002) ... the Falcons and Cardinals have met just once in previous MAC Tournament action, in 1983 ... that year, the top-seeded Falcons posted a 79-69 win over the fourth-seeded Cards at Anderson Arena in the semifinal round.

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Falcons 60, Akron 58

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