Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Hosts Fordham In Final Game Before MAC Play Begins
January 02, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2009
Bowling Green, Ohio -
Game #13
Bowling Green (6-6) vs. Fordham (2-9)
Jan. 3, 2009 • Bowling Green, Ohio (Anderson Arena) • 2:00 p.m.
Radio: Falcon Radio Network • Todd Walker/Kirk Cowan
Television: BCSN
Complete Release in PDF Format 
SETTING THE STAGE
• The Bowling Green State University men's basketball returns to the comfort of Anderson Arena to host 2-9 Fordham. The Rams are 0-3 on the road this year and Bowling Green is 4-0 at home. Fordham is the second consecutive Atlantic 10 opponent that BGSU will face after losing to Duquesne Wednesday.
• The game is just the second meeting between the two programs with Bowling Green winning the only contest 72-67 on Dec. 21, 1973 in the Michigan Tournament.
THE OPENING TIP (STORYLINES)
• The number to remember for Saturday's contest is 22.3. Fordham has lost its three road games by an average of 22.3 points per game, while Bowling Green has won all four of its home games by the same 22.3 points per contest.
• Bowling Green is holding opponents to 37.8 shooting on the year and Fordham is only connecting on 38.6 percent of its shots this year. The Falcons have been especially stingy at home, holding teams to 32.6 percent shooting in Anderson Arena.
• Bowling Green has outrebounded its four home opponents by 12.5 per game and Fordham is being outrebounded by 10.7 per game on the year. If the Falcons are able to dominate on the boards and hold the Rams to a low field goal percentage, it could be a long afternoon for the visitors.
SCOUTING FORDHAM
• The Fordham Rams are 2-9 on the season and 0-3 in road games. Fordham lost to Villanova 107-68, along with road losses to Hofstra and Florida International. The Rams' lone wins came against Lafayette and New Hampshire and the team has reached the 70-point mark just twice.
• Fordham has five players averaging at least 9.0 points per game, led by Jio Fontan at 12.8. But Fontan is shooting just 37 percent from the field and has made only 7-of-34 three-pointers. Chris Bethel is averaging 10.5 points and is shooting a respectable 48 percent from the field with a team-high 6.8 rebounds.
• As a team, Fordham is shooting just 39 percent from the field, 31 percent from three-point range and only 62 percent at the line. The Rams are being outscored by 9.6 points per game and are being outrebounded by more than 10.0 per game. One thing Fordham does do well is take care of the basketball as the Rams are forcing 3.5 more turnovers per game than they are committing.
KNIGHT TIME
Sophomore forward Chris Knight has begun to show signs of the potential he flashed as a freshman in 2007-08. After missing the first three games of the 2008-09 season, Knight scored just 15 points over the next six games, averaging 2.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. But in the last three contests, he has averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds, posting the first Falcon double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern Illinois. Knight has also made 11-of-13 free-throws during the three-game stretch and is 12-of-23 shooting.
GOOD KNIGHT
Chris Knight was named MAC East Player of the Week Monday after averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in leading the Falcons to a pair of wins. He is the first BGSU player to be named conference player of the week this year and it is the second time in his career he has received the award. Knight received the honor a year ago after being named MVP of the Peggy Cronin Classic in Cincinnati.
TRACKING FALCON MILESTONES
A number of BGSU players are closing in on career milestones or have recently reached them:
• Darryl Clements needs 13 points to reach 500 for his career. He also needs one free-throw attempt to qualify for the all-time free-throw percentage leaders. With his 80.8 percentage rate, he would rank ninth all-time in BGSU history. Finally, with his next three-pointer, Clements will have made 50 in his career.
• Joe Jakubowski made three three-pointers against Eastern Illinois to reach 50 for his career. He needs eight more assists for 150 in his career.
• Matt Karaffa picked up the first points of his career on a pair of made free-throws against Eastern Illinois. He also had the first rebound of his career against Towson.
• Chris Knight needs five rebounds to get to 250 in his career.
• Marc Larson scored four points against Eastern Illinois to reach 200 in his career.
• Erik Marschall needs 22 points for 500 in his career.
• With nine points against Eastern Illinois, Nate Miller went over 800 for his career (now at 813). He needs to average 10.4 points the rest of the way to become the 37th player in program history to score 1,000 by the end of the regular season. He went over the 400 rebound mark and the 100 steal plateau against Detroit and had four assists against Central Arkansas to go over 150.
• Otis Polk blocked two shots against Duquesne to become just the fifth player in program history to reach 100 in a career. He had seven rebounds against Eastern Illinois to go over 250 for his career.
RISING STOCK
Bowling Green's returners worked hard in the offseason to develop their games. That work has paid off in three visible areas -- scoring, rebounding, and free-throw percentage. The Falcons are averaging 4.7 points per game more than a year ago and are shooting .703 from the free-throw line, as opposed to .633 in 2007-08. Finally, BG was outrebounded by 2.6 boards per game last year, but are now outrebounding opponents by 2.7 in 2008-09.
BLOCK PARTY, HOSTED BY OTIS
Junior Otis Polk blocked two shots against Duquesne to become just the fifth player in program history with 100 career blocked shots. He ranks first in the MAC in blocked shots this year and he is just 17 behind all-time leader Tom Hall, with 117 from 1989-92. A year ago, he had four blocks in four different games, ending the season with 51, the second highest single-season total in Bowling Green history. Cornelius Cash set the mark with 59 blocks in 1973-74.
DEFENSE WINS
• Bowling Green has bucked down defensively in 2008-09, holding 11-of-12 opponents to less than 45 percent shooting, allowing less than 70 points nine times. The team has held four of its last five opponents to 37 percent shooting or worse. It is a critical stat because the Falcons are just 1-9 under head coach Louis Orr when an opponent shoots 45 percent or better (0-1 this year). BG leads the MAC in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots, ranking in the top four in the conference in scoring defense and three-point field goal percentage defense.
• Bowling Green is on pace to post a historically significant season defensively. The Falcons' 62.3 points per game allowed is the best average since the 1962-63 team also allowed 62.3 points per game. As well, the team's .378 field goal percentage allowed is the best total since the same 1962-63 team allowed opponents to shoot .375 for the year.
• Bowling Green's defensive prowess has not been more apparent than in the Falcons' win over Detroit. The Titans scored just 38 points, the lowest point total for a BGSU opponent since an 87-37 Bowling Green win over Western Ontario on Feb. 1, 1964. As well, the Titans shot just 22.7 percent from the field and had just two assists. Both of those stats were the lowest BG opponent totals since game-by-game boxscores have been archived (1987-88 season).
LEADERS OF THE MAC
Bowling Green ranks in the top half of the Mid-American Conference in every team stat that is tracked. In fact, the Falcons lead the MAC in four stats, posting the top field-goal percent defensive unit in the conference. The team also leads the MAC in blocked shots, assists, and assist/turnover ratio. On top of that, BGSU leads the conference in two individual categories. Point guard Joe Jakubowski has a MAC-leading 4.4 assists per game and center Otis Polk leads the conference with 1.6 blocked shots per game.
MAKING THINGS INTERESTING
Four of Bowling Green's games have been decided in the final minute of play this year. The most exciting of those games was a 77-76 overtime win against Georgia State in the season opener. Darryl Clements and Brian Moten made three-pointers in the final 15 seconds of regulation to force overtime and Joe Jakubowski knocked down a 25-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded in the extra session for the win. Against Ohio State, Bowling Green led with six minutes to play but the Buckeyes scored eight straight late to come away with a four-point victory. In a 57-54 loss to Savannah State, BGSU led until the final 1:17 of the contest and missed on two attempts to tie the game in the final 60 seconds. Likewise, in the Falcons' 67-65 loss to Central Arkansas, Bowling Green led until the final 1:19 and lost on a tip-in with just 0.2 seconds to play.
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents and the Falcons are 4-0 at home in 2008-09, beating teams by an average of 22.3 points per game. Bowling Green made "The House That Roars" especially tough on conference foes a year ago, going 6-2. Those six victories included wins over the teams picked to finish first (Kent State), second (Miami) and third (Ohio) in the East Division preseason poll. In fact, the team was roughly two minutes away from a perfect home record in MAC action, losing to Central Michigan in overtime and to Akron by nine points. CMU forced overtime on a putback with 0.9 seconds left in regulation, while Bowling Green led Akron with just over two minutes remaining and trailed by just one point with under a minute left. The Falcons are 441-176 (.715) all-time in Anderson Arena and 155-50 (.756) in the past 16 years.
UNTOUCHABLE AT HOME
Bowling Green's 4-0 start in Anderson Arena is the best since the 2004-05 team started the year with six straight wins and went 12-3 at home.
HITTIN' THE BOOKS
Sophomore point guard Joe Jakubowski was named the Mid-American Conference's Male Scholar Athlete of the Week Dec. 18. He had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the team's 58-38 win over Detroit and has maintained a 3.56 grade point average entering the fall semester. The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week is presented to a male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative gpa of 3.0 or better and performed well during the previous week's competition.
WINNING EARLY
Bowling Green had six wins by the team the calendar turned to 2009. Since the 2002-03 season, the Falcons have won more games than that before the turn of the new year just once. The 2006-07 team had nine wins when Jan. 1 struck and last year's team had just five wins by that time.
CLEMENTS' CAREER WEEKEND
Senior guard Darryl Clements was named to the NABC Classic All-Tournament team after setting his new career scoring high not just one time, but twice during the season's opening weekend. Clements made a crucial three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in regulation that helped pushed the season opener against Georgia State to overtime -- a game the Falcons eventually won. He then scored a career-high 19 points in the team's loss to Minnesota, before pumping home 22 in BGSU's win over Concordia St. Paul. He also led Bowling Green in assists, steals and field goal percentage during the weekend.
MILLER TABBED TO SOAR
Bowling Green senior Nate Miller was selected to the Preseason All-Mid-American Conference Team, by vote of the MAC News Media Association, as well as the league's 12 head men's basketball coaches. Miller was joined on the East preseason team by Akron's Nate Linhart, Kent State's Al Fisher, Miami's Michael Bramos, and Ohio's Jerome Tillman. A transfer from UNC Wilmington, Miller has 813 points in his BG career.
NAVIGATING THE SCHEDULE
Bowling Green will play a total of 14 games in "The House That Roars" in 2008-09. BGSU has already hosted four contests and will welcome Fordham to Anderson Arena, along with its normal conference slate. The Falcons will also play a yet-to-be-determined opponent at home in an ESPNU BracketBusters contest. BG has completed its road non-conference slate. The Falcons already played three road/neutral site games in Minneapolis, Minn. at the NABC Classic and then traveled to Columbus to play Ohio State. BGSU also played road games at Savannah State, Illinois State, Central Arkansas, and Duquesne.
CAN IT GET ANY TOUGHER?
Although Bowling Green is 6-6 in its first 12 games, the opponents that the Falcons faced will make them stronger once MAC play begins. BGSU's six losses have all come against teams with winning records and a combined record of 57-17. Illinois State is still undefeated, while Ohio State and Minnesota have lost just once. Minnesota is ranked No. 21 in the AP Top 25 and Ohio State is No. 24. Meanwhile, Illinois State is receiving votes in the AP poll and is ranked second, behind only Gonzaga, in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
FRESH FACES
Head coach Louis Orr announced the signing of two players for the 2009-10 season during the early signing period. Luke Kraus, of Findlay, Ohio (Findlay HS), and Danny McElroy, of Cincinnati, Ohio (La Salle HS), will join the Falcons next year. Kraus is a two-time player of the year in the Greater Buckeye Conference and McElroy is a tenacious defender who averaged 14.2 points and seven rebounds per game as a junior. Those two will join transfers Darion Goins and Adrion Graves, both of which are sitting out the 2008-09 season due to transfer rules.
CATCH THE FALCONS
• Bowling Green's men's basketball games can be listened to through the Falcon Sports Radio Network with Todd Walker, the voice of the Falcons, handling the play-by-play duties. Former Bowling Green basketball player Kirk Cowan does the color commentary at all BGSU home games as well. All but five games can be heard on WFRO 99.1 FM and the other five can be heard on WOHF 92.1 FM (Jan. 14 at Kent State, Jan. 28 vs. Ball State, Feb. 4 vs. Western Michigan, Feb. 11 at Toledo, and Feb. 18 at Buffalo). As well, all games can be heard on WCSM 1350 AM/96.7 FM in Celina, WONW 1280 AM in Defiance, and WCWA 1230 AM in Toledo.
• BGSU men's basketball coach Louis Orr appears on the Falcons' Nest Coaches Show on select Monday evenings, hosted by Todd Walker. The show runs from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., and is scheduled for live broadcast from Fricker's in Bowling Green (1720 E. Wooster Street).
• All game broadcasts and the Falcons Nest Coaches Show can also be heard via live stream on the official site of Falcon athletics, www.BGSUfalcons.com. Shortly after broadcasts are complete, an archived stream is available to listen to as well.
• BGSU men's basketball coach Louis Orr will talk live on 1470 WLQR "The Ticket" throughout the year. He is scheduled to be on host Norm Wamer's show Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. to discuss the season.
• Live statistics for all BGSU home men's basketball games are available on the web via Gametracker. Gametracker allows fans to view in-game stats as they occur, and may be accessed by going to www.BGSUFalcons.com. Falcon fans can utilize Gametracker for home events in numerous BGSU sports, including football, men's and women's basketball, hockey, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball.
