Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Wrap Up Season With Awards Banquet
March 30, 2009 | Men's Basketball
March 30, 2009
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green men's basketball program wrapped up its most successful season in seven years by holding the annual end of season awards banquet Sunday night. The coaching staff provided their thoughts on the season and handed out awards.
Senior Nate Miller garnered two awards, the Nate Thurmond Rebounding Award and the Antonio Daniels Impact Player Award. Miller led the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game and rebounding at 7.3 boards per contest. He also had a team-high 60 steals and shot 48 percent from the field, earning Mid-American Conference First Team All-Conference recognition. He is one of only four players in program history with 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds and 125 career steals.
Senior Darryl Clements also received two awards, earning the Howard Komives Free-Throw Marksman Award and the Senior Scholar Athlete award, given to a senior on the team who has excelled in the classroom. Clements completed his career ranked ninth in Bowling Green history in free-throw shooting, at 80.7 percent. In 2008-09, he made 52-of-63 free-throws for an 82.5 percent clip.
The team's third senior, Brian Moten, received the Howard Komives Mr. Big Shot Three-Point Field Goal Award. Moten was an all-conference honorable mention recipient and finished his career ranked sixth in Bowling Green annals with 131 career three-pointers. His 69 made three-pointers ranked third in the MAC and he made at least one in 29 of the team's 33 games. His success from long range was critical to the team as the Falcons went 10-1 in games in which he made at least three trifectas.
Junior Otis Polk received the Anthony Stacey Field Goal Marksman Award by shooting a team-best 50.3 percent from the field. He also broke the school record for career blocked shots in 2008-09. His career field goal percentage of 52.6 percent would rank ninth in school history, but he needs 65 more attempts to reach the minimum threshold.
Junior Erik Marschall received the Most Improved Player Award. Marschall missed the entire 2007-08 season with a knee injury and was hampered in the first half of the 2008-09 season. When teammates Marc Larson and Chris Knight both went down with injuries Marschall stepped up his game, shooting 53 percent from the field over the final 16 games, getting increased minutes during that time. He scored 11 points off the bench, making 5-of-6 shots, in the team's win over Ohio in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals.
Junior Marc Larson received the Junior Scholar Athlete Award. Larson missed the final 15 games of the season with an injury but was still named an ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. He holds a 3.96 grade point average in engineering technology.
Sophomore Joe Jakubowski won both the Keith McLeod Assist Award and the Sophomore Scholar Athlete Award. He ranked fourth in the conference in assists and third in assist/turnover ratio. He started all 33 games at the point guard for the Falcons, averaging 31.2 minutes per contest, and handed out five or more assists in a game 10 times. He had a season-high eight assists in the team's win over Ohio in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals. Jakubowski was named an ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District performer, holding a 3.53 grade point average in business.
Freshman Scott Thomas also received two awards, being named the recipient of the Mr. Hustle Award and the Freshman Scholar Athlete Award. In his freshman season, Thomas played in 31 games off the bench, averaging 13.4 minutes per game. He provided a spark to the team when he entered and saw increased playing time as the season wore on, picking up his average to 15.3 minutes in the final six regular season games and 21.7 minutes in the MAC Tournament and NIT. He ranked eighth in the conference in three-point shooting in MAC games and shot 81 percent from the free-throw line on the year.
The Bowling Green men's basketball team went 19-14 in 2008-09, sharing the MAC Eastern Division regular season championship with Buffalo. Due to a season sweep of the Bulls, the Falcons earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament and a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. Bowling Green advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals and eventually lost to top-seeded Creighton by just two points in the opening round of the NIT.
Award Winners
Nate Thurmond Rebounding Award - Nate Miller
Howard Komives Free-Throw Marksman Award - Darryl Clements
Anthony Stacey Field Goal Marksman Award - Otis Polk
Howard Komives Mr. Big Shot Three-Point Field Goal Award - Brian Moten
Keith McLeod Assist Award - Joe Jakubowski
Mr. Hustle Award - Scott Thomas
Most Improved Player - Erik Marschall
Antonio Daniels Impact Player Award - Nate Miller
Freshman Scholar Athlete - Scott Thomas
Sophomore Scholar Athlete - Joe Jakubowski
Junior Scholar Athlete - Marc Larson
Senior Scholar Athlete - Darryl Clements
