Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Host Northern Colorado On Tuesday
December 17, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2006
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Northern Colorado (2-8) at Bowling Green (5-3) Tuesday, December 19, 7 P.M. Anderson Arena (4,700) Series Record: First Meeting Radio: BGSU Radio Network (Todd Walker and Kirk Cowan) TV: BCSN (Delayed, Dave Horger and Fran Voll) Up Next: BGSU at Marshall, Friday, December 22, 7 p.m.FALCONS PLAY LAST HOME GAME OF 2006
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team (5-3) will host Northern Colorado (2-8) at 7 p.m., Tuesday, December 19 in the final home game of 2006 for the Falcons. BGSU will play at Marshall on December 22 then play in the UWGB Classic in the final week of December. BGSU is coming off a 59-56 win at Wright State, while Northern Colorado will play for the first time since December 10 when they defeated Denver, 74-59.
SAMARCO IS THE LEAGUE'S TOP SCORER, REIGNING MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BGSU senior Martin Samarco is the reigning MAC East Player of the Week and is the top scorer in the MAC averaging 22.5 points per game. He has shown marked improvement in other phases of the game besides scoring averaging 5.0 assists in the last three games. He also had a career-high five steals against Arkansas State. He had 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists at Wright State. During the recent five-game homestand, he averaged 25.4 points and scored 20 points or more in four of the five games. He is currently the 11th leading scorer in the nation. He is the top returning scorer in the MAC after he finished second in the league averaging 18.9 points per game. He also is fifth all-time in three-point field goals made at BGSU with 120. He had a school record 100 last season. He also is currently third in the league in three-point field goals made per game at 2.50 and eighth in steals at 1.6.
IN THE MAC
The Falcons lead the league and are 22nd in the nation in steals averaging 9.0 per game. The Falcons also are the top team in the MAC in field goal percentage defense (39.0). BGSU is second in turnover margin (+2.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.1). BGSU is fourth in the MAC in scoring defense (64.0), three-point field goals made (7.3) and fifth three-point field goal percentage (36.0).
OTHER MAC STANDOUTS
Freshman Ryan Sims is second in the MAC in three-point field goal percentage (52.6). Junior Ryne Hamblet leads the MAC in assists (5.3), is second in defensive rebounds (5.5), third in steals (2.0) and eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6). Sophomore Erik Marschall is seventh in the league in field goal percentage (55.6) and eighth in offensive rebounds (2.67). Senior Matt Lefeld is eighth in the league in free throw percentage (79.2).
DAKICH HAS SECOND BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE IN SCHOOL HISTORY
BGSU Coach Dan Dakich is in his 10th season with the Falcons and was the second fastest men's basketball coach in school history to win 100 games. He is 148-125 (54.3) overall (second-best in BGSU history) and is 86-76 (53.0) in the MAC. He ranks 12th all-time in MAC history in league wins and is tied for 11th in overall victories by a coach. BGSU is 34-7 at home against non-conference foes under Coach Dakich. His four 18+win seasons are tied for second most by a Falcon coach as he notched those in his first eight seasons after BGSU had posted just four 18+win seasons in the previous 14 seasons prior to his arrival.
MILLER JOINS FALCON LINEUP
Sophomore Nate Miller will make his debut as a Falcon against Northern Colorado. The Springfield South product joined the Falcons last January after playing his first semester of college at UNC-Wilmington. He averaged 2.0 points and 2.3 rebounds for the Seahawks last year. He averaged 20.2 points and 12.4 rebounds as a senior in high school.
CLEMENTS IN THE CLUTCH
If you were going to foul a guy at the end of the game and send him to the line for the Falcons, Wright State probably couldn't have picked a better player to do so on the floor than sophomore Darryl Clements. After all in 26 previous games, the Detroit native had only hit two of five attempts from the charity stripe. Uhh, bad choice! Clements calmly sank four free throws in the final 28 seconds to give BGSU the win at Wright State.
ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO
The Bears are in their first season under Coach Tad Boyle and have played far better then their record indicates. Having played one of the toughest schedules in the country, UNC lost two-point games to Oregon State and Colorado and also have played at Purdue, Ball State, Arizona State and at Colorado State. They are led by junior guard Sean Taibi who is averaging 16.5 points and junior center Kirk Archibeque who is contributing 11.5 points. They will play at Eastern Michigan on Thursday night as part of their two-game road trip. They lost 81-42 earlier this year at Ball State.
