Bowling Green State University
MIAMI (OH)
Bramos, RedHawks Down Falcons, 75-59
March 09, 2008 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2008
Final Stats
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Coach Orr Post-Game Audio
BGSU-Miami Boxscore in PDF Format 
2008 First Energy MAC Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
OXFORD, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Michael Bramos scored 24 points and Tim Pollitz added 18 as host Miami University downed the Bowling Green State University men's basketball team, 75-59, Sunday afternoon (March 9). The Mid-American Conference game was held at MU's Millett Hall.
With the win, the RedHawks improve to 15-14 overall, and end the regular-season schedule with a 9-7 MAC record. The Falcons drop to 13-16 and 7-9, respectively.
The Falcons' loss, combined with the results of Sunday afternoon's other MAC games, means that BGSU will be the ninth seed for the First Energy MAC Tournament, and will face eighth-seeded Toledo in Wednesday's (March 12) first round, with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. All MAC Tournament games are held at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.
Junior Nate Miller led the Falcons with 21 points, tying his career best, while classmate Brian Moten and freshman Joe Jakubowski had 13 apiece.
Eric Pollitz rounded out the game's double-digit scorers, with 11 points for the home team.
The RedHawks shot 48.1 percent from the field to the Falcons' 40.0% on the day. Miami held BGSU to just an 8-for-25 field-goal rate (32.0%) in the first half, opening up a 36-20 lead at the intermission.
Bramos was 5-for-7 from three-point range on the afternoon. He scored nine-straight points, hitting three consecutive triples in a span of just 80 seconds as the RedHawks opened up a 15-3 lead with just over six minutes gone in the game. The Falcons never got within single digits the rest of the way.
Miami scored the first four points of the game, as Bramos opened the scoring with a jumper. He and Tim Pollitz each split a pair of free-throw tries, before Miller got the Falcons on the scoreboard with a right-elbow three-pointer at the 16:36 mark.
The RedHawks, fueled by Bramos, would go on an 11-0 run, holding the Brown and Orange scoreless for over three minutes. Adam Fletcher hit a layup before Bramos displayed his long-range marksmanship with the three triples, and the hosts had a 15-3 lead.
Sophomore Otis Polk put an end to that run with a strong move to the basket. Polk took a pass from Moten, made a dribble or two and rammed home a tomahawk right-handed dunk over MU's Tyler Dierkers.
The RedHawks, though, again held the Falcons scoreless for an extended period, scoring the next saven points to take a 22-5 lead midway through the first half.
Moten knocked down a three-pointer, and soph Marc Larson split a pair of free throws a few minutes later. When Moten hit a left-corner trey at the 6:49 mark, MU's lead was 25-12.
Bramos hit a jumper, but Miller converted a pair of contested shots in the lane, and the Falcons were within 11 points, 27-16, at 5:24. The teams traded points over the next few minutes, before the RedHawks scored the last five points of the half to take the aforementioned 36-20 lead into the intermission.
Jakubowski hit a three-pointer to open the second-half scoring, and the freshman split a pair of charity tosses just under a minute later.
Moten then scored five-straight BGSU points, beginning with a one-hander in the lane. The junior made a nifty jump-stop move, getting two defenders in the air before hitting the floater.
Then, the Saginaw, Mich., native came off a curl, took a Jakubowski pass and drilled a three-pointer, cutting Miami's lead to 11 points at 40-29. But, the Falcons would get no closer.
Kenny Hayes came right back with a three-pointer of his own, and Bramos used a quick first step to elude his defender, then hit a floater of his own in the lane. MU's lead was 16 points, 45-29, and the Falcons took a timeout.
BGSU scored the next four points, as Jakubowski hit a rainbow shot in traffic in the lane, and Miller got a steal and transition layup. MU's lead was 45-33 with just under 13 minutes left.
Both teams found their scoring touch over the next minute-plus. Tim Pollitz hit a layup, but Miller answered with a jumper at the other end.
Bramos hit a three-pointer, but Miller hit a long-distance shot of his own. A Tim Pollitz three-point play with 12:17 on the clock, however, gave the RedHawks a 15-point advantage, 53-38.
with 10:51 left in the game, Bramos hit a dagger, drilling a three-pointer to give the home team a 19-point lead at 58-39. A Bramos steal led to a Tim Pollitz layup and the 'Hawks' largest advantage of the game, at 21 points.
The Falcons looked to make a run, holding the hosts without a point for over three minutes while scoring seven-straight points. Larson hit two free throws, and junior Darryl Clements scored on a long two-pointer at the 8:43 mark.
Polk got his hands on a Tim Pollitz pass, and the steal led to a Jakubowski three-point play. Jakubowski's free throw, coming out of the 7:02 media timeout, cut MU's lead to 14 points, 60-46.
Just over a minute later, however, Tim Pollitz tipped in his own miss, beginning a 7-0 run for the home team and putting the lead back to 21 points. The closest BG could get was 16 points over the final few minutes.
The RedHawks held a 37-29 rebounding advantage, with Tim Pollitz pulling down eight boards to tie for game honors. Miller also had eight boards, leading the Falcons on the day.
Moten and Miller each hit three three-point field goals, as the Falcons went 7-for-25 from long distance. Bramos, as mentioned, hit five shots from behind the arc, as the RedHawks were 8-of-15 from three-point land.
The Falcons, as mentioned, now prepare for Wednesday's game vs. arch-rival Toledo, with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena. The BGSU-UT winner will take on top-seeded Kent State on Thursday (March 13) in quarterfinal-round action at 7:00 p.m.
2008 FIRST ENERGY MAC TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, March 12 - First Round
#7 Eastern Michigan vs. #10 Ball State, 12:30 p.m.
#6 Central Michigan vs. #11 Northern Illinois, 3:00 p.m.
#8 Toledo vs. #9 Bowling Green, 5:30 p.m.
#5 Miami vs. #12 Buffalo, 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 13 - Quarterfinals
#2 Western Michigan vs. EMU/BSU winner, Noon
#3 Akron vs. CMU/NIU winner, 2:30 p.m.
#1 Kent State vs. UT/BGSU winner, 7:00 p.m.
#4 Ohio vs. MU/UB winner, 9:30 p.m.
Friday, March 14 - Semifinals
WMU/EMU/BSU vs. UA/CMU/NIU, 7:00 p.m.
KSU/UT/BGSU vs. OU/MU/UB, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 15 - Championship
Semifinal winners, 7:00 p.m.
NOTES
* Junior Nate Miller's total of 21 points tied his career high ... Miller now has had 21 points on five career occasions, including four this season ... he scored 21 points in the Falcons' visit to Millett Hall last season (Jan. 17, 2007), and matched that mark in this year's games vs. Temple, Oakland and Toledo, in addition to Sunday's MU game.
* Junior Brian Moten, a top candidate for MAC Sixth-Man-of-the-Year honors, made just his second start of the season on Sunday, and his first in MAC play ... Moten's other starting assignment this season came against Eastern Illinois (Dec. 29, 2007).
* Miami head coach Charlie Coles missed the game ... on Saturday (March 8), MU announced that assistant coach Jermaine Henderson will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season while Coles tends to some health-related matters.
* Miller had his 22nd double-digit scoring game of the season, and his fifth game of 20 points or more ... he leads the Falcons in both categories.
* Moten now has 15 games of 10 points or more this year to date ... he has scored in double figures in 14 of the last 18 games.
