Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
BUFFALO
Chris Knight Sparks Falcons In 86-82 MAC-Opening Win
January 10, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2009
Knight/Jakubowski Postgame Audio
Coach Orr Postgame Audio
Bowling Green, Ohio - Chris Knight scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting as the Bowling Green men's basketball team won its 12th consecutive Mid-American Conference opener, defeating the Buffalo Bulls 86-82 Saturday in Anderson Arena. Buffalo almost erased a 21-point second half deficit but the Falcons closed out the contest in the final minute.
Buffalo entered the game as one of the hottest teams in the MAC, coming off of successive wins over Pepperdine, Colorado and Colorado State at the Outriggers Tournament in Hawaii. But the Falcons shot 66 percent in the first half, building a 46-30 lead at the break. That is BGSU's highest scoring half of the year and the 86 points are the most the Falcons have scored in a game during the 2008-09 season.
Knight was extraordinary in the first 20 minutes, making 7-of-9 shots and posting 17 points at the break to go with four rebounds and two assists - all in 13 minutes off the bench. Brian Moten added 12 points in the first half, making a pair of three-pointers, as BG used a 21-3 run over six-minute stretch late in the first half. Knight scored nine points during that run, including his first three-pointer of the year.
Bowling Green extended the lead in the second half as Knight hit his second three-pointer of the season less than a minute into the period to make it 49-32. Darryl Clements and Moten hit back-to-back three-pointers two minutes later as the Falcons built a 21-point lead at 57-36. A Nate Miller lay-up with 12:57 to play gave the Falcons another 21-point lead at 65-44, but Buffalo chipped away at the lead for most of the rest of the contest.
Andy Robinson's jumper with 8:15 to go cut the deficit to 10 before Moten scored on a lay-up and Nate Miller knocked down a lay-up and three-pointer to extend the lead to 17 again with 5:45 to go. From there, BG's offense went a bit cold and Buffalo used a 20-7 run to close to within four with 11 seconds remaining. But the Falcons made 3-of-4 free-throws down the stretch to close out the contest.
Bowling Green shot 53 percent from the field for the game and made 8-of-15 three-pointers. The hot shooting was enough to overcome Buffalo's 17 offensive rebounds and 41-34 rebounding edge. Those boards allowed the Bulls to attempt 12 more shots than the Falcons.
Along with Knight's 22 points, three other players finished in double figure scoring for BGSU. Moten had 20 points, making 3-of-6 three-pointers, and Jakubowski finished with 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Miller had 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and three assists.
Buffalo falls to 8-5 and 0-1 in MAC play with the loss. Bowling Green improves to 8-6 overall and 1-0 in the MAC as the Falcons hit the road to play Kent State Wednesday at 7 p.m.
