Falcons Go For Third Straight Home Win Thursday

Bowling Green Falcons (3-9) vs. Texas San Antonio Roadrunners (6-4)
Dec. 30, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. • Bowling Green, Ohio • Anderson Arena (3,500)

Radio: BGSU Radio Network (99.1 FM) • Todd Walker (Play-by-Play)/Kirk Cowan (Color)

Live Stats: http://www.bgsufalcons.com
Online: America One Network (live video)/Stretch Internet (audio)
Complete Game Notes (.pdf)

Bowling Green, Ohio - Bowling Green goes for its third consecutive victory in Anderson Arena Thursday as the Falcons host Texas San Antonio at 7 p.m. BGSU beat both Florida International and Manhattan by double-figures to move to 3-2 at home on the year.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Bowling Green is shooting 50.3 percent from the field over the past three games (going 2-1 during that stretch). The Falcons shot 51 percent in wins over Florida International and Manhattan, and shot 49 percent in a three-point loss to Milwaukee. The team failed to shoot as high as 45 percent in a game over the first nine contests of the year.
• The Falcons are 3-2 at home this year and have won two in a row in Anderson Arena. Bowling Green has won at least 60 percent of its home games in each of Head Coach Louis Orr's first three years in Northwest Ohio.
• Bowling Green is 0-4 in games decided by five points or less this year, losing such contests to Howard, Niagara, Albany and Milwaukee. All of those games, however, were on the road or in neutral site games.
• Senior point guard Joe Jakubowski has broken free of some early season struggles and has nine assists without a turnover in 75 minutes over the past three games. He has also made 4-of-6 three-point attempts during the stretch.

THE SERIES
Bowling Green and Texas San Antonio will meet for the first time in program history Thursday. The last time the Falcons played a current Southland Conference school was two years ago when Bowling Green played at Central Arkansas. At that time, the Bears were still an independent but scored on a tip-in with one second left to come away with a 67-65 win.

SCOUTING THE TEXAS SAN ANTONIO ROADRUNNERS
Texas San Antonio comes into Thursday's game with a record of 6-4 overall but has lost each of its last two games, including a 92-67 loss to Tulsa in its last contest. The Roadrunners shot just 36 percent from the floor and were outrebounded by 15 in that game. However, UTSA is shooting 43 percent for the season and 35 percent from three-point range. Devin Gibson, a 6-feet senior guard, leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg), assists (5.6 apg), and steals (3.3 spg), while ranking second in rebounding (6.1 rpg). Jeromie Hill, a 6-8 freshman forward, is scoring 14.0 points per game and 6-5 sophomore guard Melvin Johnson III is at 13.8 points.

FALCONS OVERPOWER MANHATTAN IN HOUSE THAT ROARS
Luke Kraus scored 15 points, one shy of his career high, and Scott Thomas had eight points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals as Bowling Green beat Manhattan 70-57 in the team's last contest. The Falcons built a 40-26 halftime lead and Manhattan never got closer than 10 in the second half. BGSU shot 51 percent from the floor and made a season-high eight three-pointers, three each from Kraus and Joe Jakubowski. The point guard duo of Jakubowski and Jordon Crawford combined for 18 points, eight assists, four steals, and no turnovers.

LEADING MAN
Last year, Scott Thomas led the Falcons in scoring and steals, ranking second in rebounds, assists, and blocked shots. This year, he's taking it a step further by leading the Falcons in rebounding, assists, steals, three-pointers made, and free-throws made, while ranking second in scoring. His all-around game has been on display lately as he is averaging 10.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 3.0 steals in the past two games. He ranks in the top 10 in the MAC in rebounds, assists, and steals, along with assist/turnover ratio, defensive rebounding, and minutes played.

BACK ON THE LEADERBOARD
Entering the 2010-11 season, junior guard Dee Brown ranked among the top 10 three-point shooters in school history. After starting the year by making just six of his first 28 three-point attempts, he fell out of the top 10. But Brown has now made 5-of-7 over the past three games to raise his career percentage to .396 and move back into nine place in program history.

THIEVERY
Bowling Green leads the MAC and ranks in the top 20 nationally in steals, averaging 10.0 per game. The Falcons have had five games with at least 10 steals and three with at least 15 this year, including a 19-steal performance against Western Kentucky, the most in a game for a MAC school this year. The 19 steals were just one shy of the program record (the team had 20 steals against Heidelberg in 1990) and Scott Thomas had six steals individually in that game. Thomas ranks third in the MAC with 2.36 steals per game and Jordon Crawford is fifth at 1.92 per game. Both Dee Brown and Joe Jakubowski are also averaging at least a steal per contest. A year ago, the Falcons averaged just 6.8 steals per game.

POINTING THE WAY
Point guard play has been critical for the Falcons this year and when BGSU has played well, Joe Jakubowski and Jordon Crawford have played well. Jakubowski and Crawford have combined for 23 assists and just two turnovers in the team's three victories. Over the last three games (as the Falcons have shot better than 50 percent from the floor during that span), Jakubowski has nine assists without a turnover in 75 minutes of on-court time. In the win over Manhattan, Jakubowski and Crawford combined for 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, eight assists, four steals, and no turnovers.

JAKUBOWSKI NAMED COUSY AWARD CANDIDATE
Bowling Green senior Joe Jakubowski was named as one of 66 candidates for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, given to the top point guard in the country. Jakubowski was BGSU's starting point guard during the last half of his freshman campaign and then started every game at the position as both a sophomore and junior. He entered the 2010-11 season with 85 career starts and is one of the most experienced point guards in the country entering the year.

LARGER ROLES
Four players on this year's team are averaging at least 7.5 minutes per game more than they did a year ago. Jordon Crawford, A'uston Calhoun, Luke Kraus, and Danny McElroy combined to play 666 minutes a year ago but have already played 946 this season.

SHOOTING THE ROCK
A year ago, Bowling Green led the Mid-American Conference with a 44.4 field goal percentage. After struggling to shoot through the first nine games, the Falcons have again found their rhythm. Bowling Green has shot 50.3 percent over the course of the past three games. The team is 3-1 when shooting at least 44 percent from the field this year but has been below 35 percent five times.

DOWN LOW
Head coach Louis Orr's philosophy is always to play inside-out and the Falcons have continued to do that well in 2010-11. The Falcons have scored at least 20 points in the paint in 10 of the first 12 games after reaching that total in 27-of-30 games a year ago. Bowling Green has outscored its opponents in the paint seven times (and tied both Florida International and Manhattan) after doing it in 23-of-30 games a year ago. The Falcons have scored at least 30 points in the paint in each of the past three games, including a season-high 44 against Milwaukee.

STARTING A CAREER
Freshman Cameron Black has started the first 12 games of the 2010-11 season. He is the first BGSU freshman to start that many games to begin his collegiate career since Anthony Stacey started all 27 games during the 1995-96 season. Stacey went on to have one of the best careers in program history, setting the school record with 1,938 career points. While Black is not scoring at the same rate Stacey did as a freshman, the rest of his statistics compare favorably.

ORR SIGNS TEAMMATES IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Head coach Louis Orr announced that Canton Timken High School teammates Jehvon Clarke and Desmond Rorie signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period to attend Bowling Green for the 2011-12 season. Clarke is a highly-touted 6-foot-1 point guard who averaged 15.5 points, 5.6 assists, and 3.0 steals per game as a junior. Rorie is a 6-9 post player whose best days are ahead of him. He averaged 3.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.7 blocked shots per game as a junior.

EXPERIENCE AT THE POINT
Most experts agree that an experienced point guard can play a huge role in a team's success in college basketball. If that's the case, then Bowling Green could be primed for a big season. Point guard Joe Jakubowski enters the 2010-11 season with 85 games started, 10th most in the country.

CONSISTENT INCONSISTENCY
Head Coach Louis Orr has used seven different starting lineups in 12 games this year with nine different players picking up at least one start. Only freshman Cameron Black has started every game so far and Orr has not used the same lineup for more than three consecutive games. A year ago was a different story, however, as Orr used just three starting lineups all year and only seven different players got at least one start.

THOMAS NAMED LEGENDS CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT
Scott Thomas was named to the Legends Classic Subregional Round All-Tournament team for his performances against Niagara, Detroit, and Albany. He averaged 9.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.7 assists, while picking up eight steals in the three games.

THE PRIDE OF FINDLAY, OHIO
Sophomore guard Luke Kraus had a highly decorated prep career at Findlay High School, where he passed Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to become the school's all-time leading scorer. Since Roethlisberger officially changed his hometown to the fictional Corey Rawson, Ohio during the offseason, Kraus is now likely the most famous athlete from Findlay, Ohio.

FALCONS PICKED FIFTH
Bowling Green was picked to finish fifth in the Mid-American Conference East Division in the preseason media poll. The Falcons had 42 points to edge Buffalo (32 points) in the division. Defending MAC Tournament champion Ohio was selected first, followed by Kent State, Akron, and Miami.

MAC Preseason Media Poll
East Division - 1. Ohio (128 points/12 first-place votes), 2. Kent State (114 points/8 first-place votes), 3. Akron (104 points/4 first-place votes), 4. Miami (84 points), 5. Bowling Green (42 points), 6. Buffalo (32 points)
West Division - 1. Ball State (124 points/12 first-place votes), 2. Central Michigan (122 points/8 first-place votes), 3. Eastern Michigan (88 points/2 first-place votes), 4. Western Michigan (68 points), 5. Northern Illinois (64 points/2 first-place votes), 6. Toledo (38 points)
Tournament Champion - Ohio (10), Kent State (6), Central Michigan (4), Ball State (2), Akron (2)

THOMAS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MAC
Scott Thomas was selected as one of five Preseason All-MAC East Division players by vote of the media. Thomas led BGSU in scoring and steals a year ago, ranking second in rebounds, assists, and blocked shots. He averaged 13.2 points per game on the season but improved that average to 15.4 points in conference games and 16.9 points over the final eight contests.

Preseason All-MAC Teams
East Division - Brett McKnight (Akron), Scott Thomas (Bowling Green), Justin Greene (Kent State), Julian Mavunga (Miami), D.J. Cooper (Ohio)
West Division - Jarrod Jones (Ball State), Trey Zeigler (Central Michigan), Brandon Bowdry (Eastern Michigan), Xavier Silas (Northern Illinois), Flenard Whitfield (Western Michigan)

THE WALK-ONS
Head Coach Louis Orr accepted two walk-ons to his program this year and both are seniors in eligibility. Wiley Roberts is a feel-good story who served as a team manager for the past two years at Bowling Green. Mike Dabney spent the 2006-07 season at NAIA Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he posted the third-highest single-season blocked shot total in program history with 56 rejections. Roberts saw his first collegiate action by playing one minute in the team's victory over Ohio Dominican and Dabney got his first BGSU action with one minute against Michigan. Dabney played a large role in the team's game against Detroit, picking up five points, four rebounds, a blocked shot, and a steal in 13 minutes of action.

NAME DROPPING
BGSU freshman Craig Sealey was a part of two AAU National Championship teams with the All-Ohio Red Team in 2006 and 2007. Sealey's teams included Ohio State freshmen Jared Sullinger, J.D. Weatherspoon, and Aaron Craft, along with Michigan State freshman Adreian Payne.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE (THAT ROARS)
Anderson Arena has always been a difficult place for opponents but the Falcons are 3-2 so far in 2010-11. The Falcons are 459-187 (.711) all-time in Anderson Arena and 173-61 (.739) in the past 18 years.

DEFENSE WINS
Bowling Green held opponents below 45 percent shooting in 13 of its 14 victories (Valparaiso shot 46.4 percent) a year ago, a trend for success that has been the norm under Head Coach Louis Orr. The Falcons are just 5-28 in Head Coach Louis Orr's first four years when an opponent shoots better than 45 percent, including 1-11 a year ago and 1-6 this year. Duquesne shot a remarkable 60.7 percent, while Michigan, Niagara, Detroit, Michigan State, and Milwaukee all shot over 45 percent. The Falcons' lone victory this year when a team shot better than 45 percent came against Manhattan, as the Jaspers shot 48.9 percent.

HE'S SMART TOO!
Joe Jakubowski was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team in voting by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Bowling Green was one of only five teams in the country to place multiple players on one of the eight first team all-district teams as Jakubowski and graduate Marc Larson each made the team. Larson went on to be named ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American.

IT WILL STILL ROAR
Known as "The House That Roars", Anderson Arena will play host to the Bowling Green men's basketball team for the final time in 2010-11. The team will move into the brand new Stroh Center next year and will open the building by hosting Howard on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. In honor of the final season in Anderson Arena, the Athletics Department is holding a year-long celebration titled "Closing The Doors Of The House That Roars". Here are the key events of the final year in Anderson Arena and the first year in the Stroh Center:

Jan. 29, 2011 - Men's basketball throwback game vs. Eastern Michigan
March 4/5, 2011 - All-Anderson Team recognized vs. Buffalo
March 5, 2011 - The B!G Event; One final celebration of Anderson Arena
Sept. 9, 2011 - Volleyball vs. Michigan State; Stroh Center ribbon-cutting
Nov. 12, 2011 - Men's basketball vs. Howard; First game in Stroh Center
Nov. 17, 2011 - Women's basketball vs. Purdue; First game in Stroh Center
March 17-20, 2012 - NCAA Women's Basketball Tourney in Stroh Center

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