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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Illinois State
Falcons Fall To Redbirds, 78-65
December 06, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2008
Box Score
Coach Orr Postgame Audio
NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State men's basketball team used a 21-2 run that spanned the end of the first half and beginning of the second to break open a close game and defeat Bowling Green Saturday night 78-65. The Falcons shot just 35 percent on the night and were outrebounded 49-38.
Joe Jakubowski and Darryl Clements had back-to-back runners in the lane to tie the score at 20-20 with five minutes left, but the Redbirds closed the first half with a 10-2 run and then scored the first 11 points of the second half to put the game away.
Bowling Green was able to hang close early with strong interior defense that resulted in seven first-half blocked shots (and 11 for the game), four from Otis Polk. Those rejections moved Polk up two spots on BGSU's career leaderboard into a tie for fifth with 93.
The Falcons did make a brief run late in the second half, cutting into a 52-27 deficit with 12:52 to play. Over the next eight minutes, Bowling Green outscored Illinois State 25-11 and Dee Brown's three-pointer with 5:01 to play made the score 63-52. But the Redbirds scored the next nine points to pull away.
The Falcons' freshmen, Brown and Scott Thomas, played well in the second half. Brown finished with six points, making two three-pointers and Thomas had eight points, six rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in 20 minutes.
Nate Miller led BGSU with 15 points and added eight rebounds, while Jakubowski had 14 points and five assists. The Falcons committed a season-low seven turnovers, half as many as Illinois State's 14.
Clements opened the game with a three-pointer but Illinois State scored the next nine points to take control. Bowling Green battled back to take a short-lived 16-14 lead on an Erik Marschall jumper with 9:35 to play, but the Redbirds hit consecutive three-pointers and never trailed again.
Bowling Green falls to 3-4 on the season and Illinois State improves to 8-0. The Falcons will look to snap its three-game losing streak Sunday, Dec. 14 when they host Detroit at 6:00 p.m.
