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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
CINCINNATI
A Good Knight for BGSU: Falcons top Cincinnati, 69-67
November 11, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2007
Final Stats | Quotes
CINCINNATI, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Cincinnati native Chris Knight had a successful return to his hometown, to say the least.
The Falcon redshirt freshman scored 24 points and was named tournament MVP as the Falcons posted a 69-67 win over the University of Cincinnati Sunday night (Nov. 11) at UC's Fifth Third Arena. The game was the final contest in the three-day Peggy Cronin Classic.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-1 on the season, while dropping the Bearcats to 1-2.
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PEGGY CRONIN CLASSIC
Friday, Nov. 9
Saturday, Nov. 10
Sunday, Nov. 11
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
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Junior Nate Miller had 10 points, while freshman Joe Jakubowski also scored 10 points, for his first double-digit game as a collegian.
The Falcons shot 46.4 percent from the field for the game, including a 14-for-24 (58.3%) effort in the second half, and BGSU had only six turnovers in the game, including just one in the first half.
By contrast, the BGSU defense held UC to a 36.5% field-goal rate for the game, and forced 12 turnovers, including eight in the opening 20 minutes.
Knight made 10 of his 16 shots from the field, including a 2-of-3 effort from three point range, and also led the Falcons with eight rebounds. Five of those boards came at the offensive end of the court.
Deonta Vaughn had 17 points to pace four double-digit Bearcat scorers.
The teams opened the game by playing the first 5:23 without a dead ball. The contest did not stop until Falcon head coach Louis Orr called a timeout after a UC bucket at the 14:37 mark, with the Bearcats leading, 11-6.
Soon after, though, Jakubowski hit his first collegiate three-pointer off a pass from junior Brian Moten, cutting the lead to two points.
The Bearcats held the lead through the bulk of the first half, however, and took a seven-point advantage with nine minutes remaining. After a BGSU alley-oop attempt went awry, UC's Alvin Mitchell converted a three-point play at the other end, giving the hosts a 20-13 lead. A minute later, a free throw by Marvin Gentry gave UC an eight-point edge, the largest of the game.
The Falcons battled back, however, to take the lead before halftime. After a John Williamson jumper restored the eight-point margin at the 5:57 mark, the Bearcats would score only two points in the remainder of the half.
Hamblet knocked down a jumper, Miller hit a pair of free throws, and Jakubowski found Knight for a right-elbow triple, and suddenly, the Bearcats' lead was down to 23-22.
UC took a timeout, then snapped BG's 7-0 run with a dunk by Anthony McClain off his own rebound. The Falcons would go on another run, however, scoring the final nine points before the intermission.
Miller droved the lane and dished to sophomore Otis Polk for a layup to begin the run. Then, Knight hit a right-side three-pointer off a Hamblet feed. After a UC turnover, Jakubowski went to the line and hit a pair of free throws. A Miller driving layup closed the first-half scoring and gave the Brown and Orange a 31-25 lead.
In all, the Falcons ended that opening half on a 16-2 run. BGSU, as mentioned, committed just one turnover in the entire half, and the Falcons held UC to just a 29.0% field-goal rate, including a 1-for-9 (11.1%) effort from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bearcats responded to BGSU's run with a run of their own to start the second half. Vaughn's three-pointer on the first possession of the half sparked an 8-2 run that tied the score at 33-33 just over two minutes in. Williamson scored the last five points of that run for the hosts.
But, as they would do all night, BGSU responded in a positive way. Knight hit a jumper, and a minute later, some nifty passing -- from Polk to Hamblet to Knight -- led to a finger-roll layup and a foul. The free-throw try would not go down, but the Falcons had a 37-34 lead.
Williamson converted another hoop for the hosts, but Moten hit a triple from way beyond the line, and the lead was 40-36.
Five quick points by the Bearcats erased that lead, but BG rallied once more. Polk got to a teammate's miss for a tip-in, and Jakubowski drained a three from in front of his team's bench. The lead was 45-41 with 13 minutes left.
Vaughn came right back with a 3 of his own, but Miller sliced through traffic for a jump-stop layup.
The BG lead rose to five points on a pair of Knight free throws midway through the half, but the 'Cats chipped away at the deficit, tying the game with 5:48 left on another Vaughn three-ball, one of his five on the night.
Moten had an answer, though, hitting his second triple of the evening. Minutes later, Miller dribbled through seemingly the entire Bearcat team for a layup, and a Knight tip-in gave the Falcons a 62-56 lead as UC took time with 3:34 left.
Out of that timeout, another Vaughn triple cut the lead in half, and Adam Hrycaniuk would make 3-of-4 free throws over the next minute, tying the game with 2:09 left.
Hamblet, however, took a pass from Miller and hit a three-pointer with 1:44 on the clock, giving BG the lead for good. After a UC miss, junior Darryl Clements tracked down the rebound in the corner, calling timeout with 1:11 left.
The Falcons worked some clock on the ensuing possession, and Miller's three-point try would not go down as the shot-clock buzzer sounded. But, Knight outjumped two UC players to tip the rebound to Clements, taking more time off the clock. The 'Cats were forced to foul with 31.4 seconds left.
Another UC foul on the ensuing inbounds pass put the home team over the limit, but BG missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. Williamson grabbed the rebound and Cincinnati took time with 25.9 seconds left.
A BG foul led to two Vaughn free throws with 15.9 seconds remaining, and the Falcons' lead was down to a single point, at 65-64. The 'Cats fouled Hamblet on the inbounds pass, and the senior hit both ends of his one-and-one, for a 67-64 lead with 14.6 seconds left.
Vaughn missed a long three-point try, and Hamblet grabbed the rebound and again was fouled. Again, the senior sank two tosses, giving BG a five-point lead and rendering Vaughn's half-court shot -- an impressive shot nonetheless -- meaningless in terms of the game's outcome.
Hamblet led the Falcons with four assists, while three teammates had two. Moten was a perfect 2-for-2 on his three-point attempts, and Knight and Jakubowski each made a pair of treys as well, as the Falcons were 7-for-18 from long distance on the night.
Williamson added 14 points for the Bearcats, with Rashad Bishop scoring 12 and Hrycaniuk 11.
The Falcons' next action will be the regular-season home opener, a Saturday (Nov. 11) contest vs. Morehead State University. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena.
