Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
TOLEDO
Falcon Seniors Spark Win Over Rival Toledo
February 11, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2009
Clements/Jakubowski/Orr Postgame Press Conference Audio
TOLEDO, Ohio - The Bowling Green men's basketball team got big contributions from its three seniors to win a game at Toledo for the first time since 1999 with a 59-54 victory Wednesday night. The win extended the Falcons' win streak to six games, the most consecutive Mid-American Conference victories in eight years.
Seniors Darryl Clements and Nate Miller led BGSU with 15 and 14 points, respectively, and senior Brian Moten hit a key three-pointer with 1:47 to play. Clements added five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Miller had seven rebounds. Moten finished with eight points, making 2-of-5 three-point attempts.
Bowling Green looked to make it a rout early, making eight of its first 14 shots to take a 17-5 lead with 11:23 to play in the first half. But Toledo settled down and went on an 11-2 run to get back within three. BGSU led 25-22 when Joe Jakubowski hit a pair of three-pointers late in the first half to push the Falcons' lead to nine at the break, 33-24.
After shooting 54 percent in the first half, Bowling Green found it much more difficult in the second half as Toledo held the Falcons to 31 percent shooting. Despite the struggles, BG still led 50-39 with 5:24 to play following a pair of Clements free-throws. Jonathan Amos scored five consecutive points for Toledo and the Rockets scored nine straight to get back within two.
Miller scored on a lay-up with 2:32 left to put BGSU up by four but Amos made two free-throws with 2:13 left to cut the deficit back to two at 52-50. That's when Moten knocked down his big three-pointer, getting a deft pass from Chris Knight, to give the Falcons a 55-50 advantage. From there, Bowling Green ran clock and made enough free-throws to close out the 59-54 win.
Jakubowski made 3-of-4 three-pointers to finish with nine points and the Falcons went 7-of-21 from long range on the game. Toledo grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and held a 38-34 rebounding edge, led by Amos. He finished with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. Amos went to the line an amazing 19 times, making 13 free-throws.
Bowling Green improves to 14-9 overall and 7-3 in the MAC. The 14 wins surpass last year's total of 13 wins and the seven MAC wins equal last year's total. Toledo falls to 4-20 overall and 2-8 in conference. The Falcons will host Eastern Michigan Sunday night at 7 p.m. looking to extend its winning streak to seven games. BGSU has not won seven straight games since the team won 12 straight early in the 2001-02 season. The team has not won seven consecutive regular season MAC games since the 1979-80 season.
