Falcons to Host CSU on Saturday in the Inaugural Bill Frack Challenge

Cleveland State (4-4, 0-0 Horizon) vs. Bowling Green (5-2, 0-0 MAC)
Saturday, December 13, 2014; 4:00 p.m. ET
Stroh Center (4,347) / Bowling Green, Ohio
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
ESPN3 | WatchESPN App
TV: BCSN
Radio: WFRO-FM 99.1
Twitter: @BGSUMHOOPS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES (PDF)

2014-15 MAC STANDINGS
EAST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Akron	0-0	6-2
Bowling Green	0-0	5-2
Buffalo	0-0	5-2
Kent State	0-0	5-2
Ohio	0-0	2-3
Miami	0-0	2-6
WEST TEAMS	MAC	OVERALL
Eastern Michigan	0-0	8-1
Central Michigan	0-0	6-1
Western Michigan	0-0	5-3
Northern Illinois	0-0	3-2
Toledo	0-0	4-4
Ball State	0-0	3-3

LAY-UPS
* Saturday's game is the inaugural Bill Frack Challenge, in honor of BGSU athletics supporter William D. Frack, who passed away May 28, 2014.
* This is the first meeting between these two teams since the 2012 NIT Season Tip-Off tournament in Ann Arbor, Michigan. CSU won 79-73 in overtime.
* BGSU is 3-0 at home in the Stroh Center this season.
* The Falcons are a perfect 5-0 on the season when scoring 60 points or more.
* In each of their two losses this season, the Falcons have scored only 52 points.
* BGSU, who lost to Dayton on Tuesday, is 1-0 in games following a loss this season.
* Bowling Green is in its 100th season of basketball this year.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
You can follow the Falcons in many different ways this 2014-15 season. You can follow BGSU via twitter by following @BGSUMHoops and at @BGAthletics. You can also follow BGSU on instagram @bgfalcons and on facebook at BGSU Athletics. As always you can get all your BGSU Athletics information at www.BGSUFalcons.com.

COMMEMORATIVE BILL FRACK CHALLENGE SHIRTS TO THE FIRST 500 FANS
Saturday afternoon's contest will be the inaugural Bill Frack Challenge. The first 500 fans will receive commemorative Bill Frack Challenge T-Shirts.

FREE PIZZA FOR THE FIRST 200 STUDENTS WHO ARRIVE AT THE STROH
The first 200 students in attendance for the BGSU men's basketball game versus Cleveland State at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, will get FREE pizza!

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS OF CLEVELAND STATE
Cleveland State enters the contest on Saturday at 4-4 overall, but are only 1-3 in true away games on the season with the lone win coming at Marshall on Nov. 28. The Vikings are coming off a 76-54 home win over Western Illinois last time out on Dec. 7. CSU, who lost to Toledo on Dec. 3, is led by a trio of players in Trey Lewis, Anton Grady and Marlin Mason, who are all averaging double digit points on the year. Lewis also leads the team in assists with 30, while Grady leads the team in rebounds at 5.8 per game. Mason leads the team in blocks with seven on the year.

THE SERIES WITH THE VIKINGS: KNOTTED UP AT 8-8
The overall series between the Falcons and the Vikings is tied at 8-8 entering Saturday afternoon's contest. Since the Falcons ran off six straight wins over CSU from 1972 to 1976, the series has belonged to the Vikings who have won six of the last eight meetings between the two teams, including the last meeting back on Nov. 12, 2012 which needed overtime to decide a winner. BGSU is 3-3 all-time versus the Vikings in Bowling Green, Ohio, however, CSU has not yet played in the Stroh Center.

CURRENT FALCONS VERSUS CLEVELAND STATE
Only three current Falcons have played against the Vikings on the hardwood, with all three playing in the last meeting between these two teams on Nov. 12, 2012 at the NIT Season Tip-Off event. Richaun Holmes had six points, on 3-of-4 shooting, six rebounds and four blocks in the contest, while Jehvon Clarke had two points, on 2-of-2 shooting from the free throw line, six rebounds and four assists. Chauncey Orr tallied six points, four rebounds and two assists against the Vikings.

COACH'S COMMENTS
"The significance of Bill Frack's generosity to not only our program, but the Findlay community, the Bowling Green community, and what Mr. Frack decided to do to help these various entities is indescribable. You could conceivably name most of our games the "Bill Frack Game", which would be a little much, but he means that much to this program and its future. It will be an honor to participant in the game on Saturday."

"I have a ton of respect for Coach Waters and his staff. He's been doing this for a long time. He has a great reputation in the business and his teams are always known for their toughness. They defend you full court. They get after the ball. They are going to make it very hard on our ball handlers to make good decisions and they are going to put a ton of pressure on us offensively to get a good shot every time down the floor."

"Everybody loves to play at home. We are optimistic that we will continue to build a better home court atmosphere and that BGSU fans and the BGSU students will help us accomplish this goal. The Stroh Center is a beautiful arena. It is a great place to watch a basketball game. I think if people will come out and put their eyes on this team that they will rally around this team because these guys are a great bunch of kids that work awfully hard and are going to compete night in and night out."

A WIN WOULD ...
* Put the Falcons at 6-2 on the year - the best start for a BGSU team over eight games since the 2004-05 team started the year off at 6-2.
* Give BGSU a 4-0 record at home, the best home record to start a season since the Falcons went 6-0 at home to start the 2008-09 season.
* Put BGSU at 3-0 versus the Horizon League this season with wins over WSU, Detroit and CSU.
* Make the Falcons 1-0 all-time in Bill Frack Challenge contests.
* Give the Falcons their first win over Cleveland State since 2002-03.

BOWLING GREEN RECEIVES VOTES IN MID-MAJOR TOP-25 POLL - DEC. 8
Bowling Green received 22 votes in this week's CollegeInsider.com Men's Mid-Major Top-25 Poll, which was released on Monday, Dec. 8. The Falcons have received as high as 36 votes in the weekly mid-major poll this season.

SUB!!!!!!!!!!
Coach Jans has proven early that he is not afraid to go to his bench, as 15 different players have already seen time on the floor for the Falcons this season, while 10 different players are averaging 10 minutes or more of playing time per game this season. In fact, the Falcons have outscored their opponents by 95 points (190-95) in bench points this year.

DEFENSE! DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
The Falcons have been solid on the defensive end this season, as BGSU ranks second in the MAC in scoring defense and second in the League in field goal percentage defense. BGSU is allowing only 56.4 points per game and is holding its opponents to only 38.9 percent shooting on the season, which is second in the MAC behind only Eastern Michigan.

RETURN TO SENDER
Falcon senior Richaun Holmes has posted a block in all but two games thus far this season and has totaled a season-high five blocks in three different games this year on his way to a team leading 19 blocks on the season. Holmes totaled a new BGSU school record for the most blocks in a single season last year with 88. In only his first two seasons at BGSU, Holmes became the Falcons' all-time career blocks leader and now has 180 career swats.

HOME SWEET STROH
BGSU has called the Stroh Center home since the 2011-12 season and has posted an overall record of 33-17 at the venue. The Falcons have won seven or more games at home every season since the Stroh's opening for the 2011-12 season and are 3-0 at home thus far this year.

THAT 70'S STROH
BGSU is a perfect 17-0 at the Stroh when scoring 70 points or more in a contest. That means the Falcons have scored 70 or more points at home in over half of their wins at home in front of the home crowd in the Stroh Center.

HOLMES TABBED MAC EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK ON DEC. 1
Holmes led the Falcons to two wins last week over Southeast Missouri State and Detroit, and pushed BGSU to 4-0 to start the 2014-15 season. The 6-8 forward led the Falcons in scoring, rebounding and in blocked shots in both contests for the Falcons on the week. For the week, Holmes averaged 20 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per contest on 61.5 percent shooting from the field overall.

DENNY'S HOMETOWN HIGHLIGHTS
Germantown, Ohio native Zack Denny's two highest point totals this season have come against the two schools in his backyard in Wright State and Dayton. Against Wright State on Nov. 19, Denny poured in a career-high 18 points and hauled down a career-high seven rebounds to lead BGSU to the home win. Against Dayton on Dec. 9, Denny made his first five shots of the game and scored a game-high 16 points at UD Arena.

CHARITY AT DAYTON
The Falcons aided the Flyers on Dec. 9, particularly in the second half, by sending Dayton to the free throw line a total of 29 times for the game. Dayton, who went 21-of-29 (72.4 percent) from the charity stripe in the contest, got to the foul line a total of 19 times in the second half. UD connected on 15 of those 19 free throw attempts in the second half, which was nine more makes than free throw attempts for BGSU who only shot six free throws for the game. Dayton held a 19-point advantage (21-2) over BGSU at the charity stripe in the four point win at 56-52.

#10 DROPPIN DIMES
BGSU's #10 David Joseph dished out a career-high eight assists in the Falcons 17-point win over Alabama A&M on Dec. 6. Perhaps most impressive is that Joseph did not commit a turnover in the game. He leads the team with 23 assists on the season, an average of 3.8 per game.

FALCONS SHARE THE ROCK IN WIN OVER AAMU
In the Falcons' 64-47 home win over Alabama A&M on Dec. 6, BGSU dished out a season-high 19 assists. BGSU posted 19 assists on 25 made field goals for the game, as the Falcons shot 50 percent from the field overall in the win. Eight different Falcons registered an assist, while guard David Joseph passed out a team-high eight dimes, a career-high, for the game.

PARKER FINDS THE 3-BALL
Heading into the game at Western Kentucky on Dec. 3, forward Spencer Parker had not made good on a three-pointer all season long and was 0-for-3 on the season from downtown on the season. Against the WKU, Parker found his stroke, as he hit a career-high four 3-balls from long range in the game.

HOLMES' HOUSE - POSTS CAREER DAY ON DICK VITALE COURT IN DETROIT
Holmes posted a career day on Nov. 30 at Detroit, in which he matched his career-high in points with 26 and hauled in a new career-high 18 rebounds in the win. On top of his five blocks in the contest, Holmes also hit the game-winning layup as time expired to give the Falcons the 64-63 road win over the Titans. His 26 point/18 rebound performance was his first double-double of the season and the ninth for his career.

OFFENSIVE LULLS HAUNT FALCONS AT WKU
The Falcons, who shot only 34.5 percent overall as a team for the contest at WKU on Dec. 3, suffered from two offensive lulls during the 40 minute affair in the loss. In the first half, the Falcons went a span of 7:31 without a made field goal and only one free throw, and yet still were down just two points when the drought ended. The second lull would come midway through the second half, as BGSU went a total of 5:58 between made baskets from the 10:46 mark to the 4:58 spot in the final half.

HOLMES' HEROICS LIFT FALCONS OVER DETROIT
With 2.2 seconds left on the game clock, Richaun Holmes cut an inbounds pass at the free throw line, turned and took one dribble down the right side of the lane before flipping up a right handed layup that hit off the backboard and fell through the net as time expired to give the Falcons the 64-63 buzzer beating win. In the victory, Holmes matched his career-high of 26 points, on 10-of-12 shooting, and hauled down a new career-high 18 rebounds. He also added five blocks on the defensive end for BGSU.

CONTROLLING THE PAINT AND GLASS
In BGSU's 62-54 win against Southeast Missouri on Nov. 25, the Falcons controlled the paint and dominated the glass on both ends of the floor. BGSU outscored SEMO 36-20 in points in the paint in the win. The Falcons also out-rebounded the Redhawks 38-30 for the game and hauled down a total of 15 offensive rebounds, which led to 17 second chance points.

BEWARE: NO FIELD GOALS ALLOWED
In the Falcons' 70-55 win over Wright State on Nov. 19, the BGSU defense held the Raiders without a made field goal for the final 10:10 of the second half of the game. Wright State scored just nine points during that span, all of which came from the free throw line.

HISTORY MADE IN DISMANTLING OF DRAKE
Head Coach Chris Jans recorded his first career win at BGSU in the 77-58 win at Drake on Nov. 15. The win was also Jans' first NCAA Division I career win as a head coach. The season opening road win was also the first season opening true road win for the Falcons since beating James Madison on the road in 1996-97.

PRESEASON LOVE FOR MR. HOLMES
Senior Richaun Holmes received a lot of preseason attention this fall, as the forward was named to a number of preseason teams.
   * 2014-15 MAC East Division All-MAC Preseason Team selection
   * Named to the 2014-15 Preseason All-MAC Team by Athlon Sports
   * Named to the 2014-15 Preseason All-MAC Team by Sporting News
   * Named to the 2014-15 Preseason All-MAC Second-Team by Lindy's Sports
   * Named to the 2014-15 Preseason Mid-American All-Conference
       Second-Team by College Sports Madness (www.collegesportsmadness.com)

EXPERIENCED GROUP
The 2014-15 Falcons' roster is an experienced group, as the roster has 10 upperclassmen, including seven players that have played at least two years of NCAA Division I basketball. BGSU returned one redshirt senior in Anthony Henderson, three seniors in Richaun Holmes, Jehvon Clarke and Damarkeo Lyshe, as well as redshirt-juniors Chauncey Orr and Josh Gomez. On top of that, junior forward Spencer Parker returns along with three junior college transfers in Delvin Dickerson (Paris JC), Jovan Austin (Paris JC) and David Joseph (Howard College), who all were key parts in winning programs at the JUCO level prior to coming to BGSU.

A HANDFUL OF NEWCOMERS
Coach Chris Jans and his staff brought in a handful of newcomers in 2014-15 - five to be exact. Junior college transfers Delvin Dickerson (Houston, Texas/Paris JC), Jovan Austin (Grand Prairie, Texas/Paris JC) and David Joseph (Queens, N.Y./Howard College (Texas)) all joined the BGSU program over the summer and will have two years of eligibility for the Falcons. Freshmen Rasheed Worrell (Coker, Ala./Sipsey Valley H.S.) and Matt Fox (Maumee, Ohio/Anthony Wayne H.S.) will both have four years of eligibility at BGSU heading into the 2014-15 season.

FAMILIAR FACES FOR THE FALCONS
This season, BGSU returns 11 players from last year's roster including four starters in Richaun Holmes, Jehvon Clarke, Spencer Parker and Anthony Henderson. In fact, those four players all averaged over 32.0 minutes per game last season for the Falcons.

FALCONS ON ESPN NETWORKS
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team is slated to play six games on ESPN3 – Nov. 30 at Detroit at 3 p.m., Dec. 13 vs. Cleveland State at 4 p.m., Dec. 28 at South Florida at 3 p.m., Feb. 4 at Central Michigan at 7 p.m., Feb. 7 at Northern Illinois at 8 p.m., and March 6 at Buffalo at 7 p.m. In addition to the six aforementioned contests, three more games could be televised as part of 21-day Wildcard contests that will air on ESPNU. Those possible games are slated for Friday, Jan. 30 (vs. Akron); Friday, Feb. 13 (at Ball State); and on Friday, Feb. 27 (at Miami).

FALCONS PICKED FIFTH IN MAC PRESEASON POLL
The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Mid-American Conference East Division in 2014-15, according to the MAC's annual Preseason Media Poll. The Falcons, who will be led by first year head coach Chris Jans in 2014-15, received 52 total points in the preseason poll, which included one first-place vote.

ON TAP FOR THE FALCONS
BGSU will return to action in eight days when the Falcons will host Ferris State on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 1 p.m. in the Stroh Center. It will be the last home game for the Falcons in the 2014 calender year.

EXTRA HITS
* Inaugural Bill Frack Challenge Set for Dec. 13 - Click Here!
* Get your season tickets now - Click Here!
* Want to win a $1,000 Gift Card? Find out how by clicking here!
* Don't forget the Falcon Family 4 Pack - Click Here!
* BGSU Men's Basketball Commercial - Click Here!
* 2014-15 BGSU Men's Basketball Digital Media Guide - Click Here!

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