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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Ashland
Falcons Run Past Ashland, 87-63
November 08, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2008
Final Stats
BGSU-Ashland Boxscore in PDF Format 
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team shot over 52 percent from the field in the second half, breaking open a close game en route to an 87-63 win over Ashland University Saturday afternoon (Nov. 8). The exhibition game was held at BGSU's Anderson Arena.
Seniors Nate Miller and Brian Moten had 19 and 18 points, respectively, to lead the Brown and Orange, while redshirt junior Erik Marschall had 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds in his first game action in over a year. Marschall sat out the 2007-08 season due to injury.
The Falcon defense forced 32 Ashland turnovers, with 16 in each half. BGSU had a 34-7 advantage in points off turnovers on the day.
Bret Wackerly led the Eagles with 13 points, while Bylynn Hatcher added 12 off the bench.
In a first half that saw 13 lead changes, the Falcons took a narrow 36-35 advantage into the lockerroom. Ashland led with under 15 minutes left, taking a 48-47 edge on a Kale Richardson layup. But, the Falcons then went on a 12-0 run to take the lead for good.
That 12-point stretch began and ended with hoops by Miller. He scored seven of BG's points during that time, capped with a layup off an alley-oop pass from senior Darryl Clements.
After AU's Dan Owens snapped that run by hitting a three-point field goal with 8:32 left, Marschall put back his own miss, then Clements found freshman Scott Thomas on a backdoor cut for a reverse layup.
Just 20 seconds later, Clements picked Weckerly's pocket and threw an outlet pass to Miller for a layup. Less than 10 seconds after that, Miller stole the ball deep in AU territory and fed freshman Darnell "Dee" Brown for a jumper, and the Falcons' lead was 68-51.
The teams traded free throws before Clements spotted an open Joe Jakubowski for a three-pointer with 5:29 left. Thomas stole the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a jumper just four seconds after Jakubowski's basket, and BG's lead was 73-52. Beginning with the aforementioned 12-0 run, the Falcons scored 26 of 30 points during a 10-minute stretch.
The Eagles never got closer than 15 points thereafter, and the Falcons closed the game on a 9-0 run. Junior Matt Karaffa's layup in the final minute of play gave BG the biggest lead of the day and capped the scoring.
Moten had almost singlehandedly kept the Falcons in the game in the first half. The senior scored all 18 of his points -- half of BG's first-half total -- in the opening 20 minutes.
The Falcons opened the game by making just 1-of-11 shots from the field. Moten, like most of his teammates, got off to a slow shooting start, but hit back-to-back triples from the same spot to give the Falcons an 18-15 lead with 10:47 left before the break.
Back came the Eagles, however, and an acrobatic 'and-one' jumper in the lane by Weckerly gave the visitors a five-point lead. Another Weckerly hoop off a steal gave AU a 31-24 advantage and prompted a Falcon timeout. But, BG would respond out of that TO.
Marschall's layup off Miller's feed began a 7-0 run that tied the score. Moten scored the next five points on that run, on a layup from Miller and a triple from Thomas. After Wackerly's jumper broke that run, another trey from Moten gave the home team the lead for the remainder of the half. The second half featured four ties and two lead changes, the last coming on the aforementioned 12-0 run.
After Ashland took the 47-46 lead prior to that BG run, the Falcons got stops on 10 consecutive possessions, forcing five turnovers and five missed shots. After Owens' three-pointer, BG forced another miss before making AU turn the ball over on four-straight possessions. BG also ended the game with six stops in a row.
The Falcons shot 45.0% for the game, including a 21-for-40 (52.5%) rate in the second half. As mentioned, the Falcons had a 34-7 advantage in points off turnovers on the day, including 21-1 in the second half.
Thomas and junior Otis Polk had seven points apiece, with Polk grabbing six rebounds and Thomas five. The Falcons had a 43-42 rebounding edge, including a 25-14 margin in the second period.
Jakubowski had six points and six assists, while Clements and Miller also had six assists in the win. BG had 29 assists on 36 baskets.
Miller and Moten had four steals apiece, with Thomas and Clements adding three.
The Falcons begin the regular season with next weekend's trip to Minneapolis, Minn., for the NABC Classic. That trip starts with a Friday (Nov. 14) game vs. Georgia State, and also includes contests vs. Minnesota (Nov. 15) and Concordia-St. Paul (Nov. 16). The regular-season home opener is Thursday, Nov. 20, vs. Wayne State.
