Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Jacksonville State
Moten Sparks Falcons in 77-69 Victory Over Jacksonville State
December 29, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2006
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Green Bay, Wisconsin - Sophomore Brian Moten scored a career-high 18 points, all in the second half, to spark BGSU to a 77-69 victory over Jacksonville State in the second round of the Oneida Casino Holiday Classic in Green Bay, Wisconsin
"He (Moten) hasn't played a whole lot and I didn't like our defense and to be honest with you I looked down the end of the bench with about two minutes left in the first half and thought to myself that I hadn't played Moten," said BGSU Coach Dan Dakich. "So I made up my mind the first time I got mad about something in the second half, he was coming in, and I said the heck with it lets go with Moten. It's probably the best decision I've made in a long time."
Moten erupted and hit six of seven field goal attempts. two of three from long distance, and four of five free throws. All were career highs for the Saginaw, Michigan native.
With the win, BGSU improves to 9-3, while JSU falls to 3-9. The Falcons will play host Wisconsin-Green Bay at 8:30 p.m. (Eastern) Saturday night for the Classic Championship.
"I had a little chip on my shoulder and I just wanted to prove I can help this team win," said Moten. "When you play with good all around players like Martin Samarco and Nate Miller, you can get your open shots. You've just got to hit them."
Samarco led the Falcons with 19 points and four assists, while Miller also added 13 points, nine boards and five assists. Junior Ryne Hamblet had nine points, four assists and two steals.
BGSU scored the first eight points of the game, six of them by senior Matt Lefeld, but JSU used an 11-0 run to lead 18-14 with 12:27 left in the half. BGSU tied the score at 18-18 on back to back layups by freshman Otis Polk.
Samarco then hit one of his four first half three-pointers with 7:12 in the half to give BGSU a 26-23 lead and the Falcons never trailed from that point in the game, though the Gamecocks would tie the score on five more occasions.
BGSU led 35-30 at half after neither team could score in the final 3:43 of the first half.
JSU would tie the score in the first 50 seconds of the half. Enter Moten who scored his first basket with 17:17 to go to give the Falcons a 39-35 advantage. Moten would hit back-to back three-pointers later in the half which gave BGSU a 50-42 lead with 13:25 to go.
JSU would storm back thanks to 10 straight points by Harold Crow and tied the game at 52-52 with 9:12 to go. With the game tied at 56-all, Miller hit a jumper with 6:30 left to give the Falcons the lead for good.
BGSU led 60-56 when Will Ginn hit a triple to cut the lead to 60-59 with 5:38 remaining. Moten would again hit a jumper to make it 62-59 with 4:08. For JSU, Ginn would be called for charging and following a BGSU timeout, sophomore Dusan Radivojevic would hit a three-pointer with 3:12 to go to make it 66-60 and the Gamecocks would get no closer as BGSU hit on all eight of its charity tosses in the final minutes.
With the win, BGSU equaled its victory total from last season.
When you win nine the previous year, it's not exactly your goal to win nine again, your goal has to be to turn that record around,"said Dakich. "I think we can get a heck of a lot better, but our guys, quite frankly, have been a fun group to be around. We had a really good summer and really good fall.
Despite having won eight of its last nine games, the Falcons, with just two seniors, look to continue to grow as it prepares for the MAC season.
"Last year was a tough for us and right when it was over in March, we got to work," said Miller. "Nobody hung their heads and everybody just went to work and knew that as long as we worked hard we could have a better season."
The Falcons also will have a chance to win their first tournament championship since November of 1999 when they captured the Nextell Challenge in Hawaii.
"Any time you have a chance to play for a championship it's a good thing," said Dakich. "One of the reasons we wanted to come here was that we knew we had a chance to play one of the top teams in the Horizon League on their home floor in front of a great environment and the fact it is for the championship makes it even a bigger bonus."
Post Game Notes
This was the first meeting between the two teams.
BGSU will play in a championship game of a tournament for the first time since the 2002 MAC Post Season Tournament.
The Falcon bench contributed 30 points and is outscoring opponents 23.5 to 15.0. In addition, BGSU reserves are hitting 47.3% from three-point range as opposed to 24.6% from long distance from its opponents non-starters.
BGSU is 8-0 when leading at the half.
The Falcons shot 58.3% from the field in the second half and 50.9% from the floor from the game. BGSU is now 4-0 when hitting half or more of its field goal attempts in a game.
Moten eclipsed his previous career-high which was 15 earlier this season against Defiance. He did not play in the first half. He also had six field goals against Defiance and two three-pointers last season against Notre Dame (Ohio). His four free throws and five FT attempts were career-highs.
Samarco led the team in scoring for the 11th time in 12 games. He played 40 minutes for the second time this season (Furman).
In the last three games, Miller is averaging 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds. He also is averaging 4.0 assists in the last two games.
Hamblet started for the seventh time this season and had nine points, four assists and two steals. As a reserve, he is averaging 12.4 points and is shooting 57.3% from long distance.
Lefeld had six points, all in the first three minutes.
Sophomore Brian Guerin had three points in 13 minutes of play in the first half.
Freshman Brandon Bland played solid defense and had a basket in five minutes.
Freshman Otis Polk had four points and three rebounds in eight minutes of action.
In addition to his triple, Radivojevic had five rebounds.
