Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Play Home Opener Thursday Night In Anderson Arena
November 19, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2008
Bowling Green, Ohio -
Game #4
Bowling Green (2-1) vs. Wayne State (1-0)
Nov. 20, 2008 • Bowling Green, Ohio (Anderson Arena) • 7 p.m.
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker/Kirk Cowan
Game Notes vs. Wayne State in PDF Format 
SETTING THE STAGE
• The Bowling Green State University men's basketball plays its home opener Thursday night, meeting Wayne State, its second consecutive NCAA Division II opponent.
• The Falcons are 1-0 all-time against Wayne State, defeating the team 64-41 in the 1942-43 season. BGSU also defeated the Warriors in an exhibition game last year 59-44.
• Wayne State went 10-16 a year ago, including a 4-13 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Warriors were only 1-11 in road contests.
THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
• Bowling Green has opened the season 2-1 for the second time in the past four years and is looking to match last year's 3-1 start.
• The Falcons will have three more players at their disposal than they had during the NABC Classic with the return of senior Nate Miller, redshirt sophomore Chris Knight and sophomore Cameron Madlock.
• BGSU will look for continued production from senior Darryl Clements. Clements was Mr. Do-It-All in the NABC Classic, averaging 16.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, while picking up a team-high nine steals. For his efforts, he was named to the NABC Classic All-Tournament team.
SCOUTING WAYNE STATE
• Wayne State went 10-16 a year ago, but the Warriors have turned over their roster with 10 new players on their 13-man roster. Only Larry Edwards, Bryan Smothers, and Jerry Oden return. The team has a pair of Division I transfers in Shane Lawal (Oakland) and Justin Sample (Detroit) and two junior college players, Bryan Edwards and Bryan Wright. As well, Wayne State brought in six freshmen.
• In the team's 89-59 season-opening win over Marygrove College, Wright scored 24 points and Lawal added 20. All eight of Wayne State's players who saw court time were new players.
• Wayne State shot 41 free-throws in the contest (making 27) and connected on 53 percent of their field goal attempts. The Warriors also held a 49-34 rebounding edge but only attempted six three-pointers (four from Wright).
MAKING THINGS INTERESTING
Bowling Green won its opener in one of the most thrilling regular season games imaginable. Darryl Clements and Brian Moten made three-pointers in the final 15 seconds of regulation just to force overtime and Joe Jakubowski knocked down a 25-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to beat Georgia State 77-76 in the first extra session. Jakubowski's shot was made possible by center Marc Larson, who tracked down an offensive rebound on a missed three-pointer with less than five seconds left and kicked the ball out to Jakubowski for the final shot.
CLEMENTS' CAREER WEEKEND
Senior guard Darryl Clements was named to the NABC Classic All-Tournament team after setting his new career scoring high not just one time, but twice during the weekend. Clements made a crucial three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in regulation that helped pushed the season opener against Georgia State to overtime -- a game the Falcons eventually won. He then scored a career-high 19 points in the team's loss to Minnesota, before pumping home 22 in BGSU's win over Concordia St. Paul. He also led Bowling Green in assists, steals and field goal percentage during the weekend.
REVVIN' UP THE ENGINE
Bowling Green prepared for the 2008-09 regular season by defeating NCAA Division II Ashland University 87-63 in a home exhibition game Nov. 8. Nate Miller came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points and he added six assists, four steals and four rebounds. Erik Marschall came up one rebound shy of a double-double in his return from injury, posting 11 points and nine rebounds. Brian Moten fired up 18 points and added four steals as the Falcons pestered Ashland into 32 turnovers. Bowling Green added eight blocked shots but the Falcons will look to improve on its performance from the free-throw line, where BGSU went just 8-for-21.
MILLER TABBED TO SOAR
Bowling Green senior Nate Miller was selected to the Preseason All-Mid-American Conference Team, by vote of the MAC News Media Association, as well as the league's 12 head men's basketball coaches. Miller was joined on the East preseason team by Akron's Nate Linhart, Kent State's Al Fisher, Miami's Michael Bramos, and Ohio's Jerome Tillman. A transfer from UNC Wilmington, Miller has 719 points in his BG career.
NAVIGATING THE SCHEDULE
Bowling Green will play a total of 14 games in "The House That Roars" in 2008-09. Along with the regular conference slate, BGSU will host Wayne State in its home opener and will welcome Detroit, Towson, Eastern Illinois, and Fordham to Anderson Arena. The Falcons will also play a yet-to-be-determined opponent at home in an ESPNU BracketBusters contest. BG will play road non-conference games against Ohio State, Savannah State, Illinois State, Central Arkansas, and Duquesne. The Falcons will also play a road game against Minnesota in the NABC Classic, along with neutral site games in that event against Georgia State and Concordia-St. Paul.
THE MEDIA SAYS THIRD
The Bowling Green men's basketball team was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference's East Division in 2008-09 by vote of the MAC News Media Association. The Falcons received 70 points in the poll, trailing only Kent State (124) and Miami (109) in the East. Western Michigan was picked to win the West, followed by Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. Bowling Green also received two votes as the favorite to win the MAC Tournament.
BLOCK PARTY, HOSTED BY OTIS
Junior Otis Polk moved into ninth place on the career BGSU blocked shots chart with a block against Concordia St. Paul. His 83 career blocks are just 35 shy of Tom Hall's school record of 117 from 1989-92. A year ago, he had four blocks in four different games, ending the season with 51, the second highest single-season total in Bowling Green history. Cornelius Cash set the mark with 59 blocks in 1973-74.
FRESH FACES
Head coach Louis Orr announced the signing of two players for the 2009-10 season during the early signing period. Luke Kraus, of Findlay, Ohio (Findlay HS), and Danny McElroy, of Cincinnati, Ohio (La Salle HS), will join the Falcons next year. Kraus is a two-time player of the year in the Greater Buckeye Conference and McElroy is a tenacious defender who averaged 14.2 points and seven rebounds per game as a junior. Those two will join transfers Darion Goins and Adrion Graves, both of which are sitting out the 2008-09 season due to transfer rules.
GIANT KILLERS AT THE HOUSE THAT ROARS
The Falcons' win over then-No. 23 Kent State (March 1) was the team's fourth consecutive home win vs. a nationally-ranked opponent. BGSU defeated fifth-ranked Michigan State (all rankings according to Associated Press) in December of 1990, topped No. 23 Eastern Michigan on Valentine's Day, 1996, and defeated No. 25 Miami in February of 1999. The Brown and Orange's last home loss to a top 25 opponent came three decades ago to No. 16 Marquette on Dec. 6, 1978. Since the Associated Press began conducting a poll on Jan. 20, 1949, the Falcons have a record of 22-47 against nationally-ranked foes. BGSU is now 13-9 all-time in home games vs. AP Top-25 opponents, including a 7-5 mark since Anderson Arena opened prior to the 1960-61 season.
FALCONS' NEST COACHES SHOW
BGSU men's basketball coach Louis Orr appears on the Falcons' Nest Coaches Show each Monday evening. The show runs from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., and normally is scheduled for live broadcast from Fricker's in Bowling Green (1720 E. Wooster Street).
THAT'S THE TICKET
BGSU men's basketball coach Louis Orr will talk live on 1470 WLQR "The Ticket" throughout the year. He is scheduled to be on host Norm Wamer's show Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the team.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Live statistics for all BGSU home men's basketball games are available on the web via Gametracker. Gametracker allows fans to view in-game stats as they occur, and may be accessed by going to the official site of Falcon athletics, BGSUFalcons.com. Falcon fans can utilize Gametracker for home events in numerous BGSU sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, hockey, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball.
