Bowling Green State University
Detroit
Moten, Jakubowski Help Falcons Down Detroit, 81-65
February 23, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2008
Jakubowski postgame audio | Coach Orr postgame audio | Moten postgame audio |
Final Stats
BGSU-UDM Boxscore in PDF Format 
DETROIT, Mich. (BGSUFalcons.com) - Guards Brian Moten and Joe Jakubowski combined for 35 points as the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team came away with a road win, 81-65, over the University of Detroit Mercy. The non-conference game, part of the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters, was held Saturday (Feb. 23) at UDM's Calihan Hall.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 12-14 on the season. The Titans drop to 7-20.
Moten, a junior, scored a team-high 18 points, just two away from his career best. Jakubowski, a freshman, had 17 points, the most of his Falcon career to date.
Junior Nate Miller and redshirt freshman Chris Knight rounded out the Falcons' quartet of double-digit scorers. Miller had 13 points in the win, while Knight had a double-double, with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Falcons shot 48.1 percent for the game, including a 50.0% rate in the opening half, while holding UDM to a 39.3% field-goal percentage on the afternoon.
The Falcons made nine three-point field goals on the day, shooting 42.9% (9-for-21) from beyond the arc. The Titans were 5-of-24 (20.8%) from long distance.
Chris Hayes had a game-high 22 points for the Titans, while Michael Harrington and Tryl Hartfield had 11 points apiece.
The Falcons got off to a quick start, scoring the game's first five points, but saw the Titans respond with five-straight points of their own. Jakubowski opened the game by making a three-point field goal, and Knight took an entry pass from junior Darryl Clements and hit a nifty reverse layup.
The hosts, though, got a Eulis Stephens jumper and a Harrington three-point play to tie the score. Clements picked Nemanja Jokic's pocket near midcourt and sailed in for a layup, but Hayes hit a layup of his own to send the teams into the first media timeout deadlocked at 7-7.
The Titans took the lead for the first and only time all day, when Jokic knocked down a three-pointer at the 14:25 mark. But, the Falcons would score the next eight points to take the lead for good.
That 8-0 run began when Clements fed fellow Detroit native Otis Polk in the paint. Polk's turnaround jumper cut the Falcons' deficit to 10-9 with just over seven minutes elapsed. Then, it was Moten's turn to take over.
Moten would hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, 50 seconds apart, with Clements getting the assist on each. The Falcons had the lead, 15-10, and BG would not let UDM draw even for the rest of the game.
UDM answered Moten's second triple with a dunk by Stephens, but sophomore Ryan Sims hit a driving 'and-one' layup, converting a three-point play around the 10:34 media timeout. BG's lead was 18-12.
Sims was the sixth different Falcon play to score in the game's first 10 minutes, and sophomore Marc Larson became the seventh BG player to find the scoresheet soon after, grabbing an offensive rebound, drawing a foul, and hitting two free throws at the 9:41 mark.
Zach Everingham hit a long triple, but Moten's nice pass found Larson inside for a layup and a 22-18 lead. Hayes hit a trey to cut BG's lead to a single point, but Knight's short baseline jumper began a 5-0 run for the visitors.
Miller split a pair of free throws before Moten's defensive rebound and transition jumper gave the Brown and Orange a 27-21 lead.
Knight would score the Falcons' next six points, splitting two free throws at the 5:23 mark before taking a Clements pass and knocking down a right-elbow triple less than half a minute later. A jumper by the redshirt freshman would give BG a 33-27 lead.
The Titans got back within two points, and Hartfield's three-pointer cut the lead to 35-34 with 1:14 left in the half. But, Larson's tip-in and a Miller free throw in the final minute sent the Falcons into the lockerroom with a four-point lead.
Both Knight and Moten had 10 points in that first half, while Hayes led the home team with nine points.
The teams traded baskets to begin the second period, as Jakubowski hit a tough running layup, and UDM's Josh Samarco -- the brother of former Falcon Martin Samarco -- scored just 10 seconds later.
Jakubowski responded with a straightaway trey, for a 43-36 lead. After Harrington's tip-in, Knight made the 'extra pass' to find a wide-open Larson for a layup.
The Titans cut the BG lead to 46-40, and the Falcons took a timeout. Out of that break, Polk's pass to Jakubowski resulted in another three-pointer and a nine-point BG lead. Miller went 3-for-4 at the fre trow line over the next few minutes, upping the lead to 52-40.
After a Hayes jumper stopped BG's 6-0 run, Jakubowski's driving bank shot resulted in a three-point play and a 55-42 BGSU lead with 13:47 left. Then, Moten was fouled on a layup attempt in transition, and the junior made both free throws for a 15-point advantage.
A Jakubowski three-pointer at the 11:38 mark gave the Falcons a 17-point lead, at 60-43. The Titans got back-to-back layups from Stephens, but on an offensive possession where the Falcons got three chances at a bucket, Moten grabbed an offensive board and slipped inside for a layup and a 62-47 lead.
The lead stayed in the mid-teens for the next several minutes, before Jakubowski found a wide-open Polk for a layup, a UDM foul, a free throw and a 68-51 lead with 6:45 remaining.
The Titans looked to cut into the lead, but Moten hit several jumpers over the next few minutes to keep the home team from getting closer than 13. Then, Miller's dagger at the 4:29 mark removed any remaining doubt.
After a UDM miss and a BG defensive rebound, Jakubowski found Miller at the top of the arc. The junior, who was 0-for-6 from the field to that point, proceeded to drill a three-pointer to give BG an 18-point lead, 75-57.
Two minutes later, the Falcons used nearly all of the shot clock, before Jakubowski spotted Miller on the left wing. This time, Miller's three-point try barely moved the net, and BG's lead was a game-high 19 points with 2:38 remaining.
The Titans would get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way, and freshman Cameron Madlock capped BG's scoring with a two-handed dunk with 19.9 seconds left.
The Falcons held a 43-31 rebounding advantage, with Knight grabbing 11 and Miller and Clements eight apiece.
BGSU now has a week off before returning to Mid-American Conference competition. The Falcons close the home portion of the schedule next Saturday (March 1) with a game vs. league-leading Kent State University. Tipoff is 12:30 p.m. at venerable Anderson Arena.
NOTES
* The Falcons now have an overall record of 8-3 in games related to the BracketBusters event, including a 4-2 mark in actual February BracketBusters contests ... BG is 4-1 in return matches, 4-1 in home games, and the Falcons are now 4-2 in away games.
* BGSU is now 5-2 against Horizon League schools in BracketBusters action.
* A trio of Falcons -- junior Darryl Clements, sophomore Otis Polk and assistant coach LaMonta Stone -- all hail from the Motor City ... Clements and Polk were playing in a game in their hometown for the first time in their collegiate careers.
* Stone is now 2-0 at Calihan Hall as a member of the BGSU staff ... the Falcons won a 57-51 road decision over the Titans three years ago (Dec. 4, 2004), in Stone's fourth game with the program.
* Freshman Joe Jakubowski, who set a career best with four three-point field goals made in Tuesday's (Feb. 19) game at Ohio, made four more triples on Saturday at UDM ... Jakubowski is 8-for-13 from long range in the last two games.
* Jakubowski's three-pointer on the first possession of the game marked the Falcons' seventh consecutive make from long range ... BGSU had finished the Ohio game by going 6-for-6 from beyond the arc.
* As a team, the Falcons have made 20 three-pointers over the last two games, after averaging 4.4 triples in the first 24 games of the year ... BGSU went a combined 20-for-44 (45.5%) from long range in the Ohio and UDM games.
* Two of BGSU's highest three-point FG totals have come over the past three games ... BG made a season-high 11 treys at Ohio and nine vs. Detroit ... the Falcons hit 10 triples in the Northern Colorado game on Dec. 6.
* BGSU has topped the road victory total for last season ... the Falcons are 4-8 in road games this year, after going 3-10 in all of the '06-07 campaign.
* The Titans played without senior guard Jon Goode ... Goode, who leads the Horizon League in scoring, was injured late in UDM's game at Wright State on Wednesday, and sat out the BGSU game.
