Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
OHIO
Falcons Headed To MAC Semifinals For First Time In Seven Years
March 12, 2009 | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2009
Final Stats |
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Cleveland, Ohio - Nate Miller tied his career high with 22 points and finished with a double-double for the sixth time in the past 11 games as Bowling Green defeated Ohio 74-61 Thursday night in the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals. The Falcons are the top seed for the tournament and Ohio was the No. 9 seed.
Miller set the tone early for Bowling Green, scoring 12 of the team's first 14 points, while point guard Joe Jakubowski distributed the ball flawlessly with six assists and just one turnover in the first 20 minutes.
Miller and Jakubowski knocked down back-to-back three-pointers that put Bowling Green ahead 17-10 and the Falcons extended the lead to double-figures on buckets from Erik Marschall and Chris Knight with 4:06 to play. Knight was playing for the first time in six games since spraining his right knee in the first minute of the team's win over Buffalo on Feb. 18. He played eight productive minutes, finishing with seven points, two rebounds and a steal, helping the team's depth when Marschall and Otis Polk got into foul trouble.
Ohio chipped away at the deficit over the final four minutes to get back within five but BGSU senior Darryl Clements hit a three-pointer at the first half buzzer to give the Falcons a 35-27 lead at the break and some important momentum.
Bowling Green extended the lead back to double figures right away as Miller took over again to start the second half with four consecutive points. Ohio never got back within single digits as BGSU shot 65 percent from the field in the second half and outrebounded the Bobcats 37-29 for the contest.
Bowling Green's inside group of Miller, Marschall, Polk and Knight combined to go 18-for-24 (75 percent) from the field. Miller was 9-of-11 to end with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Marschall was 5-of-6 from the field to score 11 points. Jakubowski ended with eight assists and just two turnovers in 34 minutes and Brian Moten scored 12 points, making 7-of-8 free-throws.
For the game, Bowling Green shot 61 percent from the floor and held Ohio to 37 percent shooting, including just 6-of-27 three-pointers.
Ohio's season comes to a close at 15-17 overall, while Bowling Green improves to 19-12. The Falcons beat Ohio three times this season, the first time the team has beaten one team three times in a year since doing the deed against Ohio in the 1990-91 season.
Bowling Green will move on to the MAC semifinals and will meet either No. 4 seed Miami or No. 5 seed Akron Friday night at 9:30 p.m.
