Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Rockets Hold Off Falcons, 52-48, in MAC Tournament Play
March 12, 2008 | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2008
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CLEVELAND, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Jonathan Amos scored 15 points, including 12 in the second half, as the University of Toledo held off the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, 52-48, Wednesday evening (March 12). The game, a first-round contest in the 2008 First Energy Mid-American Conference Tournament, was held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.
With the win, the eighth-seeded Rockets improve to 11-18 on the season, and UT advances to face #1 seed Kent State University in Thursday's (March 13) quarterfinal round. The Falcons, seeded ninth for the 12-team tourney, see the season come to an end with a record of 13-17.
Sophomore Otis Polk tied his career scoring high, with a game-best 17 points vs. the Rockets. Redshirt freshman Chris Knight joined Polk in double digits, scoring 11 points and tying for game honors with nine rebounds.
The Falcons had a better shooting percentage than the Rockets, going 38.2 percent from the field to UT's 33.3% on the game. BGSU also outrebounded the Blue and Gold, 40-34, and the Falcons had advantages in points in the paint (30-20), second-chance points (12-7) and bench scoring (21-2). But, the Rockets went 17-of-26 from the free-throw line, while BG was 5-of-11 from the stripe.
The teams combined to go just 2-for-25 from three-point range, with the Falcons making one trey in eight tries, and Toledo going just 1-for-17 from beyond the arc.
Both teams got off to a slow start shooting-wise, as the game's first points did not come until junior Nate Miller split a pair of free throws nearly two minutes in. A layup by UT's Anthony Byrd got the Rockets on the scoreboard at the 17:56 mark, before Knight's tip-in gave BG a 3-2 lead.
But, the Rockets proceeded to score nine-straight points, holding the Falcons scoreless for 4:29 and taking an 11-3 lead. Ridley Johnson's second-chance jumper began that run, and Jerrah Young scored five consecutive points to cap that run, including a three-point play at the 14:14 mark.
After a steal by junior Darryl Clements, Polk hit a right-side one-hander, and a Miller jumper got the Falcons within 11-7. Amos hit a three-pointer -- UT's only triple of the game -- but Polk took a Miller entry pass and hit a layup, and the UT lead was cut to 14-9.
The teams combined to score only two points over the next 4:55, with Johnson's steal and layup giving the Rockets a seven-point advantage. Clements fed Polk for a jumper in the paint at the 6:23 mark, but two Mohammed Lo charity tosses restored the Rockets' seven-point lead.
Again, both teams went cold, as neither club scored until Knight's short jumper off a Ryan Sims pass at 4:11. Then, Clements found Polk for a layup, and BG's deficit was just three points, at 18-15.
When sophomore Marc Larson made a move to elude several defenders and converted a layup, the Falcons were within a single points. But, Young responded with a quick hoop at the other end.
Another Larson basket, this time a left-side jumper, was followed by two Tyrone Kent charity tosses with 1:18 to go in the half. Knight made the extra pass to Polk for a short layup with exactly a minute left, and a Young free throw closed the first-half scoring.
In that first half, the Falcons shot 35.7% from the field, to just 30.8% for the Rockets. The teams combined for 18 offensive rebounds (nine each way), but only eight second-chance points (four for each side).
Amos, held to just three points in the first half, scored eight points in less than four minutes to start the second stanza. He hit back-to-back buckets to give the Rockets a 27-22 lead with 1:36 gone in the half. Then, after Miller's offensive rebound and putback, Amos hit a layup at the 17:21 mark.
Polk's tip-in gave the sophomore 12 points and moved the Falcons within three, but yet another Amos hoop put the Rockets ahead by five once again. The Falcons, however, were about to make a run.
BGSU scored seven-straight points to take the lead with just under 12 minutes left. The run began with Polk's offensive rebound and layup, and the Detroit native then got a defensive board at the end of UT's next possession. Polk went to the line after the 14:46 media timeout and split a pair of free throws, and BG's deficit was just two points.
With 12:42 on the clock, after another UT miss, Clements grabbed the rebound and fired a length-of-the-court pass to Knight, who was ahead of the pack for a layup that tied the score, 31-31. The Falcons then took the lead after Clements' nice look inside led to a layup by junior Brian Moten at 11:54.
Kent's nifty reverse dunk tied the score, but Knight's follow shot gave the Falcons the lead once more, 35-33, with 10:51 remaining. That lead, however, would be BG's last.
The Rockets scored the next six points, with Amos getting four, to take the lead for good. After Knight's jumper stopped that run at the 8:59 mark, both teams again went cold from the field. The only points over the next four-and-a-half minutes were a pair of free throws by the Blue and Gold.
Moten's right-side jumper at the 4:24 mark got the Falcons within a bucket, at 41-39, but Johnson answered with a hoop of his own. Polk got to the line and knocked down two free throws with 2:04 left, and the Falcons were within a pair, 43-41.
Young, however, converted a reverse layup, and after a BG offensive foul, the Rockets used most of the shot clock of the ensuing possession. Johnson's jumper was no good, but Byrd grabbed the offensive rebound, enabling UT to milk more of the clock. BG was whistled for a foul, and Kent hit both free throws with 48.6 secondds left. Kent would hit 5-of-6 tosses over the next 17 seconds.
Freshman Joe Jakubowski scored twice on quick driving layups in the final minute, but after Young's success at the line, Byrd closed out the game by making three tosses in four tries. A Miller three-pointer got the Brown and Orange within three points with just 4.5 seconds left, before Byrd's final free throw closed out the scoring.
Kent had 12 points for the Rockets, while Young added 11 and had a game-high nine rebounds. Amos had a game-high five steals for UT.
For the Falcons, Miller had eight points and eight boards, while Clements, Jakubowski and Larson scored four points apiece. Clements led all players with six assists in the game.
Head coach Louis Orr and the Falcons had no seniors on the 2007-08 end-of-season roster.
A FEW FALCON NOTES
* Sophomore Otis Polk, as mentioned, tied his career high with 17 points vs. the Rockets ... Polk also had 17 points in the Falcons' game vs. Duquesne (Jan. 2).
* Polk was 7-for-10 from the field vs. the Rockets, setting a career best for field goals made and tying his previous standard for FG attempted ... he had gone 6-for-10 from the floor in the Duquesne contest.
* Polk's double-figure scoring game was the fifth of his career, with all five coming in 2007-08.
* With three blocked shots against the Rockets, Polk finished his sophomore season with a total of 51 ... that is the second-highest single-season total in BGSU history ... Cornelius Cash set the record with 59 blocks in the 1973-74 campaign ... Polk passed Skip Howard (49 in 1972-73) in Wednesday's game.
* Polk ends his sophomore campaign with a career total of 81 blocks, ranking 10th on the BGSU career list ... with two years of eligibility remamining, Polk is 36 blocks shy of Tom Hall's school record (117 from 1989-92) ... Polk had 30 blocks as a freshman before totaling 51 in '07-08.
* Fellow sophomore Marc Larson blocked one shot vs. Toledo ... he ended the year with a season total of 36 blocks, the eighth-highest total in BG history.
* The 2007-08 campaign marked the first time in school history that two players had 35 or more blocks apiece in the same season ... Falcon teammates had had 30 or more blocks on two occasions, in 1973-74 (Cash with 59, Howard with 31) and 1990-91 (Ed Colbert with 44, Hall with 37).
* Redshirt freshman Chris Knight scored 11 points for his 19th double-figure scoring total of the year ... he had nine rebounds vs. Toledo Wednesday ... Knight, who led the Brown and Orange with four double-doubles this season, fell one rebound shy of a double-double on no fewer than five other occasions in '07-08.
