Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Soar Past Bobcats, 78-63
February 08, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
"We thought we came out in the first half and played pretty good defense. Our offense, we weren't getting as open looks as we thought. We just talked at halftime about staying with the defense and the offense was going to come if we kept working it. We got some wide open shots to start off in the first five minutes of the second half and it just clicked from there, we stayed with our defense and the offense came around."
on the play of Scott Vandermeer...
"Anytime you have a guy that can block every shot that comes his way, it takes a lot of pressure off everybody. It covers up mistakes. We didn't get beat off the drive a whole lot today but when we did, Scott was right there to clean things up. Also, is is another player contributing and if we can have that out of Scott everynight, we're going to be hard to beat."
"I'm getting setup on good shots and just knocking them in. Me and John Reimold talk constantly about refusing to force up shots and just letting them come to you. I think that is the biggest advantage in getting good shots is not trying to force them."
on playing with Germain Fitch...
"I've felt bad everytime Germain has gotten hurt in his career. We rehabed two summers ago everyday doing our rehab and just to see the hardwork and determination that he had and then to see it end like that, it is tough. But I would expect Germain to get back as quick as possible to playing basketball.
"Germain is still involved. He still brings leadership. He is out at practice, he's still giving advice on the bench and he is still around."
on his career best performance (seven blocks tie a school record)...
"I think it is just a matter of starting. In high school, I averaged six blocks per game and I wanted to come out and if a guard got beat, I just wanted to be there and help. That is my role on the team to help so I just try to be there in the right spot and time it up right. If I block it or get a foul, as long as they don't get a basket, that is all that matters."
on finding out he was going to start his first collegiate game...
"I found out two days ago, before practice. He told me that I was going to guard (Leon) Williams and I just got so surprised and excited I couldn't sleep last night. I was so anxious to get out there and contribute to the team..."
"I think in the motion offense sometimes it takes awhile for the players to figure out what they're doing. I felt like at the end of the first half, we got a couple of strips for layups, (Cory) Eyink hit a big three and then in the second half I felt like our ability to defend keyed our offense. We got an early drive three-point play that got us the lead by John (Floyd) and I just kind of felt like our defense picked up our offense and then we got to hitting shots which helps us playing defense."
"Obviously the key was our ability to get offense in the second half. I thought that in the first half, they were switching and doing some things and we told our team at every timeout to stay with the defense and the offense will come. It normally is what happens in a motion offense and sure enough we found some offense in the second half. They played Saturday and now they had to play today and the style they play wears themselves out sometimes and I thought we were able to take advantage of that. I don't think their press, had they had three or four days of rest I think their press would've been much more of a factor. I'm proud of our kids, I thought we handled the ball in the second half, got the shots that we wanted and stood up and drilled them. And I thought the key was the start of the second half, obviously the defense as well. We didn't give up very many easy looks and I thought we handled the backboard pretty well. I like the fight in our team and we just continue to move on."
