Bowling Green State University
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WESTERN MICHIGAN
Miller And Polk Guide Falcons To Fourth Straight Win
February 04, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2009
Miller/Polk Postgame Press Conference Audio
Coach Orr Postgame Press Conference Audio
Bowling Green, Ohio - Nate Miller and Otis Polk combined for 37 points and 22 rebounds as the Bowling Green men's basketball team extended its season-long win streak to four games with a 68-61 win over Western Michigan Wednesday night at Anderson Arena. The Falcons improved to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in Mid-American Conference play.
Miller tied his career high with 21 points and added 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Polk ended one point shy of his career high with 16 points and came up one rebound short of a double-double with nine. He also set his career best with five blocked shots in the game, moving to within four of the Bowling Green school record with 113 in his career.
Western Michigan led three times in the early going but Joe Jakubowski's three-pointer with 16:07 to play in the first half put the Falcons on top 12-10 and BGSU would never trail again. Bowling Green built the lead to 10 at 27-17 on a Miller three-pointer with 4:54 to play in the opening half but the Broncos came right back with five in a row. The Falcons extended the lead over the final five minutes and led 35-26 at the break.
Bowling Green built the lead to as many as 12 points after Erik Marschall's lay-up with 11:19 to go made it 53-41 but Western Michigan got a pair of free-throws and a three-pointer from Demetrius Ward to get back within seven. Eventually, the Broncos cut the deficit to four at 61-57 with 2:42 to play but BGSU put the game away with free-throws.
Miller made 3-of-4 from the stripe to make it 64-57 and Polk put the final nail in the coffin with a thunderous dunk to make it 66-59 with 31 seconds remaining. Each team traded buckets in the last 13 seconds for the final score.
Polk was 4-of-5 from the field and scored in double-figures for the third consecutive game, adding to his career best offensive run. He had never scored in double-figures in back-to-back games prior to the last two week. Miller's 21 points pulls him to within 60 of becoming the 37th player in program history to score 1,000 in his career.
Brian Moten added 11 points, while Chris Knight had six points, five rebounds and two assists. Marschall came off the bench to finish with four points and five boards.
Both teams shot 39 percent from the field but Bowling Green held a 43-34 rebounding advantage. The Falcons also had just nine turnovers, compared to 13 for Western Michigan, and BGSU made 20-of-26 free-throws and blocked eight shots.
Western Michigan falls to 7-14 overall and 4-4 in MAC play. The Falcons will play at Central Michigan Saturday at 7 p.m.
