Moten, Falcons Shoot Down Cardinals, 63-53

Wednesday, January 30

Muncie, Ind.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

BALL STATE

January 30, 2008 | Men's Basketball

Jan. 30, 2008

 Orr and Moten postgame audio | Final Stats

MUNCIE, Ind. - Junior Brian Moten scored a game-high 19 points off the bench as the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team picked up a road win, 63-53, over Ball State University Wednesday night (Jan. 30). The Mid-American Conference game was held at BSU's Worthen Arena.

With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-9 overall and 5-2 in the MAC. The Cardinals drop to 3-16 and 2-5, respectively.

Juniors Darryl Clements and Nate Miller joined Moten in double digits, with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Freshman Joe Jakubowski added nine points, while sophomore Otis Polk scored eight.

Moten made eight of his nine field-goal attempts on the night, including a 3-for-4 performance from three-point range.

Melvin Goins scored 18 points for the Cardinals, while Anthony Newell added 14. Peyton Stovall had a double-double, with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Falcons shot 56.1 percent from the field for the game, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that BG made just one of nine shots to begin the night.

After that 1-for-9 start, the Brown and Orange went 12-for 15 (80.0%) to end the half, making the final six shot attempts of the period. BG shot 54.2% in the first half and 58.8% (10-for-17) in the second.

The Falcons held Ball State to a 33.3% field-goal rate for the game.

The Cardinals took an early 6-1 lead as BG got off to that slow shooting start. Stovall had four of the six points. But, the Falcons reeled off a 13-0 run, holding BSU without a point for a span of 8:11.

Miller began that run by grabbing a defensive rebound and going coast-to-coast for a layup. Redshirt freshman Chris Knight hit a jumper, and Polk kicked the ball out to Moten for a right-elbow three-pointer that gave the Falcons the lead for good, 8-6, at the 12:39 mark.

A minute later, Jakubowski hit a driving layup, switching hands at the last second and laying the ball in. The Falcons had a 10-6 advantage.

Jakubowski fed Polk for a layup at the 10:59 mark, and Miller's follow shot gave the Falcons an eight-point lead.

Newell finally ended BG's run with a jumper at the 9:24 mark, but Moten's three-pointer gave the Falcons a 17-8 edge and prompted a Ball State timeout.

Newell was on the receiving end of an alley-oop pass, for a dunk that got the home crowd up and cheering. But, Clements quieted the fans with a three-pointer for a 10-point BG lead at the 6:06 mark.

Stovall answered with a three-pointer of his own, but Moten hit a twisting left-side jumper, then drilled a triple that gave BG a 25-13 lead and forced the Cardinals to call another timeout.

The Cardinals got within eight points, before Polk hit back-to-back-layups for a 29-17 BG lead. Clements knocked down a long two-pointer for the Falcons' sixth consecutive make, and the Brown and Orange took a 31-20 lead into the intermission.

Ball State scored the first three points of the second half to get within eight points, and both Knight and sophomore Marc Larson picked up their third fouls of the game within the first two minutes of the half. But, with the Cards looking to get back into the game, Polk backed his would-be defender into the paint and banked a shot off the glass and through the hoop for a 33-23 lead.

A Miller hoop gave BG a 12-point lead, before Stovall's three cut the margin to single digits. But, Jakubowski drove through approximately four-fifths of the Cards' defense for a layup and a 37-26 lead, and freshman Cameron Madlock fed Clements for a three-pointer and a 14-point margin with 14:10 left.

Moten hit a runner, then made another floater a minute later, and BG's lead was 16 points, the largest of the game, with 12:40 on the clock. And, for the third time in the game, a Moten basket was immediately followed by a Ball State timeout.

After a Perry layup, neither team scored for over two minutes, before Miller held the ball out top for much of a BGSU possession. That possession ended quite successfully for the Falcons, as the junior drained a straightaway triple for a 47-33 lead with 8:27 left.

Ball State made a late charge, getting within eight points after an 8-2 run. A Goins layup capped that run with 3:24 remaining.

After two Clements free throws, the BG lead was back out to 12, but the hosts would not go away. A Newell three-pointer at the 1:53 mark got the Cards within eight points, and Malik Perry's putback of a missed free throw with 1:32 remaining cut the BG lead to 55-49.

The Falcons broke Ball State's press, as Miller's long inbounds pass found Moten ahead of the pack for a layup, but a trey by Goins made it a 57-52 game with just over a minute left. The Cardinals, however, could get no closer.

Jakubowski knocked down three of four free throws over a 12-second span, as BG went a total of 6-for-8 from the stripe over the final 1:02.

The Falcons went 6-of-11 (54.5%) from three-point range in the win, with Moten making 3-of-4 and Clements going 2-for-3 from long distance. Goins and Stovall each hit two treys as the Cards made five triples in 18 attempts.

Miller led BG with eight rebounds as the teams deadlocked, 30-30, in that category.

The Falcons continue a two-game road swing with a Saturday (Feb. 2) contest at Western Michigan University. That game, the second half of a doubleheader in Kalamazoo, is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.

NOTES
* The Falcons' win at Ball State Wednesday was BGSU's first MAC road win of the season, and snapped a five-game road losing streak ... BG's last road victory came at Furman on Nov. 27.

* BGSU now is 3-5 in road games this season, matching the road win total for last year ... the 2006-07 edition of the Falcons went 3-10 in road games, and 0-8 in MAC contests away from home.

* The victory snapped a 15-game losing streak in MAC regular-season road games for the Brown and Orange ... BGSU's last conference road win came at Kent State, 79-74, two years and four days ago (Jan. 26, 2006).

* The BGSU bench outscored the Ball State reserves, 27-2 ... among those BG bench players, Moten was 8-for-9 from the floor, while Polk made 4-of-6 shots.

* BGSU has won three consecutive MAC games after winning a total of three league games during all of last season.

* The Falcons' three-game MAC winning streak is the team's longest since BG went 4-0 to begin the 2004-05 conference season (Jan. 2-12, 2005) ... BG's 5-2 start in MAC play is the team's best since that 2004-05 squad also won five of seven games to start the conference season.

* BGSU's field-goal percentage of 56.1% was the team's second-highest of the year, and the Falcons' best in MAC play ... the Brown and Orange shot 66.7% in the win over Morehead State on Nov. 17.

* Junior Brian Moten made a career-high eight field goals in Wednesday's win ... he had season-high totals of 33 minutes played and three three-point field goals made.

* Junior Darryl Clements made a career-high five free throws at Ball State ... freshman Joe Jakubowski also had 5 FTM, the highest total of his young BGSU career.