Bowling Green State University
Furman
Falcons Ride Fast Start to 67-58 Win at Furman
November 27, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2007
Final Stats | Quotes
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team built a big first-half lead, then held off a late run by host Furman University to post a 67-58 win over the Paladins Tuesday night (Nov. 27). The non-conference game was held at Timmons Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 4-2 on the season, including a 2-0 mark in road games to date, while Furman drops to 0-5.
Senior Ryne Hamblet led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points, while junior Nate Miller and redshirt freshman Chris Knight added 12 apiece.
Stanley Jones was the lone player in double figures for the Paladins, scoring a game-high 15 points.
The Falcons shot a blistering 63.0 percent from the field in the first half, opening up a 37-19 lead at the intermission. BG held Furman to just a 5-for-25 shooting effort (20.0%) in the opening 20 minutes.
For the third time in the last five games, the Falcons led from wire to wire. A jumper from Hamblet and a Miller layup gave BG a 4-0 lead, and the Paladins never pulled even thereafter. After a strong offensive rebound and putback by sophomore Marc Larson, the Falcons held a 6-2 lead at the first media timeout of the evening.
Freshman Joe Jakubowski had the hot hand in the game's early going, hitting his first three attempts from three-point range on the night. Jakubowski converted a pass from soph Ryan Sims to give the Falcons a 9-4 lead, then knocked down another triple a few minutes later -- also off a pass from Sims -- to extend BG's advantage to 14-8.
The hosts would score the next four points, but Jakubowski drove the lane and dished a pass to Miller for a layup and a 16-12 lead with eight minutes elapsed.
Bobby Austin hit a pair of free throws for the hosts, again cutting the BG lead to two. But, the Falcons answered with a 7-0 run, with a pair of layups by sophomore Otis Polk sandwiched around Jakubowski's third trey of the game.
Polk began that run with a putback, and junior Darryl Clements spotted Jakubowski for his three-ball. When Polk grabbed a deflected pass and converted a layup, the lead was 23-14 and Furman burned a timeout.
After Noah States hit a three-pointer for the Paladins, BG answered by scoring the next 10 points. Knight hit a jumper, and the Falcons then used defense to create offense. After Larson blocked a shot -- one of four rejections on the night for the soph -- Jakubowski grabbed the rebound and pushed the tempo. Some tic-tac-toe passing led to a Jakubowski-to-Hamblet-to-Miller layup and a 10-point BG lead.
After another Furman miss, Jakubowski raced downcourt and found Clements with a pass. The junior's layup resulted in a 29-17 lead and another Furman timeout with 5:01 left in the half.
The timeout did the hosts no good, however, as the Falcons were rolling. Knight hit a jumper, and Polk split two defenders for a layup underneath the hoop and a 33-17 lead. Furman finally stopped the run, but Polk then swooped in for a tomahawk dunk off a Miller pass. When Clements knocked down a left-side jumper in the final minute of the half, BG's lead was 37-19.
After ending the first half with a jumper, Clements began the second period with another hoop. Then, another Larson block led to a Knight dunk on the break, and the Paladins called timeout with less than a minute gone in the half and a 41-19 deficit on the scoreboard.
Knight's dunk concluded a stretch of 12-plus minutes in which the Falcons outscored Furman by a 25-5 count.
The teams traded points over the next few minutes, with Knight converting two putbacks of teammates' misses during that time. His second such shot gave the Falcons a 47-26 lead at the 16:34 mark. BG, however, then would go over seven minutes without a point.
Connor Nolte and Alex Opacic each hit three-pointers during Furman's 10-0 run, before Miller finally broke the Falcons' drought with a layup at the 9:30 mark.
Opacic's three-point opportunity got the hosts within 10 points, at 51-41, with 7:40 left in the half. Hamblet got a conventional three-point play of his own a minute-and-a-half later, hitting BG's first free-throw attempt of the night for a 54-41 Falcon lead.
With just under four minutes left, however, Jones hit a turnaround jumper to cut BG's advantage to single digits for the first time in the half, at 55-46.
Hamblet responded with two free throws, then a drive-and-dish to Larson, which the soph converted for a 59-46 advantage. A three-pointer by Furman's Darryl Evans cut the lead to eight points at the 2:04 mark, but an outlet pass gave the Falcons a 2-on-1 opportunity, and Miller's pass found Larson for a layup.
The Paladins would cut the lead to eight points one more time, but Hamblet was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the game's final 1:30, and Knight punctuated the win with a dunk in the last minute of play.
BGSU shot 50.9% from the field for the game, while holding the hosts to a 32.7% success rate. The Falcons also held the rebounding advantage, with 37 boards to the Paladins' 32.
Furman went to the free-throw line 27 times (making 20) to BG's 10.
In addition to BGSU's three double-digit scorers, the Falcons got nine points from both Jakubowski and Polk, while Larson and Clements each scored six. Miller and Knight each grabbed seven rebounds, while Clements and Polk pulled down six apiece.
Jakubowski had a game-high five assists, with Miller dishing out four and Sims three. Larson, as mentioned, had four blocked shots as the Falcons totaled 10 as a team.
The Falcons will continue a three-game road swing with a Saturday (Dec. 1) trip to Oakland University. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Athletics Center `O'rena in Rochester, Mich.
NOTES
Senior Ryne Hamblet was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in the win, setting a BGSU career-best in free throws made in the process ... Hamblet tied his career standard as a Falcon with two blocked shots.
Junior Darryl Clements matched his season- and career-best totals with six rebounds vs. the Paladins.
Freshman Joe Jakubowski's total of three three-point field goals was the highest of his brief collegiate career ... he leads the Falcons with seven successful three-pointers this season to date.
Sophomore Marc Larson's four blocks vs. the Paladins doubled his career best ... he had had two blocked shots on five prior occasions.
Soph Otis Polk set a season best and matched his career standard with six rebounds ... Polk also had six boards during last season's Toledo game (Feb. 3, 2007) ... Polk also matched his career high in both field goals made (four) and steals (one), and set a new standard with six FG attempted.
Furman's 32.7% field-goal percentage was a season low for a BGSU opponent ... the Falcons have now held five of the six foes to under 40 percent from the field this season to date.
