Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Take on Ball State in MAC Semifinals
March 08, 2002 | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2002
BGSU (23-7) VS. Ball State (20-10) 9:00 p.m. Friday, March 8 Gund Arena (11,000) Cleveland, Ohio MAC Tournament semifinal Series Record: BGSU leads, 31-28 Last Meeting: at Ball State 92, BGSU 79 (1/16/02) Radio: WBVI-FM (96.7) Internet: bgsufalcons.com TV: Fox Sports Ohio
Probable Starters (Pts./Reb.) 33 Erik Crawford (3.8/1.8) F 52 Brent Klassen (3.6/2.3) F 14 Len Matela (15.2/7.7) C 20 Keith McLeod (22.5/4.2) G 32 Brandon Pardon (11.1/2.7) GOff the Bench (Pts./Reb.) 1 Germain Fitch (2.5/2.3) F 2 Josh Almanson (4.9/2.6) F 3 Kris Wilson (1.4/0.6) G 5 Jabari Mattox (1.1/1.1) G 15 Kris Gerken (0.5/0.5) G 24 Cory Ryan (5.0/2.1) G 43 Cory Eyink (1.1/1.2) F 45 Kevin Netter (4.8/1.8) F
Head Coach: Dan Dakich (Indiana '85) * 88-55 * Fifth Year
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.
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.
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 ... it marked the eighth time this season that McLeod has scored the clinching or winning points for BGSU...McLeod now has 15 games of 20 points or more this season, including 12 such games away from Anderson Arena.
In addition to being named MAC Player of the Year this week. McLeod was named first-team All-District (OH, IN, IL MI, WI, MN) by the United States Basketball Writers Association. McLeod and Kent State's Trevor Huffman were the only MAC players to earn this distinction. McLeod also was named All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, earlier this season.
