Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Earn Road Win At Eastern
January 18, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes
Ypsilanti, Michigan - The following are post-game notes after the Falcons' 79-72 win at Eastern Michigan, Wednesday night.
With the win, BGSU has now won five of its last seven games. BGSU also has won back-to-back games in the MAC for the first time this season.
The Falcons have won two straight in Ypsilanti and lead the series 42-35. BGSU is 4-2 on the road against Eastern Michigan under Dan Dakich. The last three meetings in the series have been played at the Convocation Center.
BGSU is now 3-3 on the road this season.
The eight-point deficit faced by the Falcons in the first half is the largest BGSU has overcome in a win this season.
The MAC East is 26-5 against the MAC West this season.
BGSU is in a stretch which will see them play six games in 14 days from January 15 to January 29.
The Game
The Falcons started the game on a 13-4 run with 12:26 left in the first half.
Eastern stormed back with a 22-5 run to lead 26-18 with 5:00 to go.
The Falcons responded with another 12-4 run and led 32-30 in the final minute of the half.
However, the Eagles rallied and led 33-32 at intermission.
In the second half, the Eagles led 46-42 with 15:02 to go.
BGSU went on a 12-0 run and took a 54-46 advantage with 11:56 left in the game.
BGSU had its largest lead of the game at 59-49 with 9:07 to go on a three-pointer by freshman Dusan Radivojevic.
With the Falcons leading 74-71 in the final minute, Eastern's John Bowler, the MAC's leading scorer, missed a short jumper and senior Mawel Soler grabbed the rebound.
BGSU would go on to make five of six free throws in the final 53 seconds.
Team Stats
The Falcons shot 51.0% from the field, including 58.3% in the second half. BGSU is 36-6 since 2001 when shooting better than 50% from the floor in the game.
The Falcons tied their season-high with 20 free throws made (Toledo) and established a new best with 27 free throw attempts (24 vs. Toledo). BGSU made 16 of 20 charity tosses in the second half.
BGSU won for the first time this season in three games when an opponent has shot better than 50% from the field. The Eagles shot 54.8% from the floor.
BGSU forced 23 Eagle turnovers and have forced 47 opponent miscues in the last two games.
Individual Notes
Ypsilanti native Martin Samarco had a career-high 35 points. The junior made a career-high 10 field goals in 13 attempts, five of seven from three-point range and a career-high 10 of 10 free throws. He also had a career-high four steals. In his last game against Toledo, he made just three of 21 field goal attempts.
Samarco's 35-point outburst is the highest for a Falcon since John Reimold had 38 last year in the MAC Tournament against Ball State.
Senior Steven Wright had a season-high 17 points off the bench. He is averaging 13.3 points since becoming the team's sixth man three-games ago. He added five rebounds and five assists. He made five of 10 field goal attempts and seven of eight from the line. He has made 13 free throws in the last two games.
Since last year, BGSU has won 10 of the 13 games that Wright has shot 50% or better from the field in.
Freshman Dusan Radivojevic did not play against Toledo, but came up big against Eastern. He had eight points and made two three-pointers. He also had two assists and a steal. His 21 minutes played ties a season-high (Troy).
Senior Mawel Soler had five points, eight rebounds and four assists and was solid on defense again inside.
Because of foul trouble, junior Matt Lefeld finished with just five points in 13 minutes. He did however have a huge basket in the final three minutes to extend a Falcon lead from three to five points.
Freshman Erik Marschall only saw the floor for 16 minutes and had four points before also fouling out.
Sophomore Perrick Robinson had three points and steal and junior John Floyd had two points and three assists.
