Bowling Green 75 Ohio 41

Men's Basketball Home Team: BGSU Falcons Visiting Team: Ohio Bobcats Venue: Anderson Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio) Game Time: 2:00 p.m. Fellow Attendees: None Ohio's coach looks like a librarian. A very angry little librarian at times, I might add. I really think he was trying to get two technical fouls and get thrown out so he wouldn't have to continue to watch the multitude of suck that was his team, and I can't say I blame him. Alas, he was only able to achieve one technical, so he had to stick it out until the end. As bad as OU was, though, I don't think anyone in the MAC would have beaten the Falcons today. It was obvious from the get-go that they knew they had something to play for, and they latched onto it with both hands and wouldn't let go. It was awesome to see them come out focused and hungry, intent on destroying anything in their path. Just about everybody on the floor looked good today. They went through a couple of sloppy stretches, but were able each time to collect themselves quickly and recommence the beat-down. With the win, the Falcons tied for the regular-season MAC championship. I stuck around after the game to watch the team cut down the net on the south end of Anderson Arena, and I wasn't even close to the only one. Shortly thereafter, the final of the Miami-Buffalo game was announced - with Buffalo's win, the Falcons are the #1 seed going into the MAC Tournament, which starts next Tuesday, giving them a bye into the quarterfinals, and also guarantees an NIT berth in the event that they don't win the MAC Tourney for the NCAA bid. This was also Senior Day at Anderson Arena, the last home game for Darryl Clements, Brian Moten, and Nate Miller. These three guys have been huge components of this year's success, and it's awesome to see them go out on top. It's a shame that Senior Day had to fall during the first weekend of BGSU's spring break - it would have been nice for them to get their ovations from a raucous crowd doing justice to the "House That Roars" legacy, but I suppose they'll probably take it however it came. Now it's time to play for an NCAA Tournament spot. 1968 was a long time ago, gentlemen...let's get it done in Cleveland! Go Falcons!

Miami 50 Bowling Green 45 OT

Men's Basketball Home Team: Miami RedHawks Visiting Team: BGSU Falcons Venue: Millett Hall (Oxford, Ohio) Game Time: 7:00 p.m. Fellow Attendees: None First off, win or lose, I have to give the Falcons a lot of credit. Like so many other games this season, they were behind for a good portion of this game, sometimes by a significant amount. Like so many other games this season, they battled back to put themselves in a position to win at the end. Especially with one of the team's best players (Chris Knight) out and frontcourt depth at a premium due to injury (Marc Larson), the way BG has been playing of late has been very, very impressive. Alas, this time around, they just couldn't get the ball in the hole when they really needed to, but they gave it a hell of a run. Going to sporting events by myself has good and bad points, sometimes wrapped up all in one thing. Since I'm the rare bird that just needs one ticket, I can often find a singleton in what seems like a really good spot. For this game I found myself in the first row right behind the Miami bench. That sounds pretty good, but really, it's not optimal. Once the game starts, players are jumping up and down, coaches and trainers are roaming around, and plenty of game personnel and event staff are in the vicinity as well. Frankly, it's often hard to see what's going on. I was extremely grateful to one ref who eventually made it a point to tell Miami's bench to sit down pretty much each time down the floor (I think at some point they should have earned a technical foul, but I'm biased). Of course, that didn't keep ol' Charlie from getting in my way from time to time, but it made it easier to see more of the game. And it goes without saying that I was surrounded by Miami fans. One guy, on his way into the section, saw me decked out in orange and tried to tell me I was in his seat. When I assured him I had a ticket for my seat and actually started to get it out to show it to him, he remembered that he was actually in the row behind me. In the middle of the section I might have bought it, but I was in the first row - dude, you know I'm not in your seat. I think he just assumed I was trying to bogart the seat and wanted to keep a Falcon fan from occupying such a "prime" spot. Unfortunately for him, he had to listen to me yelling encouragement to the Falcons all night long. I don't think I was too obnoxious, except when Scott Thomas hit the 3-ball at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. I went a little bit out of my mind at that point. My throat is still a little raw from that outburst, actually. My observations on the game itself are a little spotty, due to my odd perspective, but here's what I've got. First, I'd love to see Scott Thomas get some more minutes. His absolutely clutch trey aside, he's the only player we have that looks confident and consistently competent when passing into the post. I think Otis could provide at least some scoring punch if we could get him the ball more often, and we know that Marschall can score. With the offensive droughts these guys go through sometimes, that could be huge. And what was Otis doing on his last foul? He fouled a guy shooting a 3 - bad enough when anyone does it, but why was the center out there? We could have used him in OT. I also wasn't crazy about Nate driving for the layup with about 10 seconds left in overtime, down by 3. The defense cleared out and was pretty much giving it to him, but with that little time on the clock, I think it was time to shoot for 3. It didn't help that he missed the layup, but I think it was the wrong decision either way. And I'm not criticizing Nate - that could have been a coaching call as much as his own initiative. And without him we're not in that situation anyway. He's been huge for us. So now the Falcons go into their final regular-season game in a four-way tie for first in the MAC with Miami, Buffalo, and Akron. There's a bunch of different ways this can play out, but the only thing the Falcons can do at this point is take care of OU at home and let the whole mess sort itself out. I'll be at the House That Roars (and hopefully it will) on Sunday to cheer the Falcons on, and hopefully we can send B-Mo, DC, and Nate out in style.

Bowling Green 59 Toledo 54

Men's Basketball Home Team: Toledo Rockets Visiting Team: BGSU Falcons Venue: Savage Arena (Toledo, Ohio) Game Time: 7:00 p.m. Fellow Attendees: None This was an ugly game, an absolutely brutal game to watch. But hey, I'm not going to complain too much, because it was a win, the first time I've seen BG win at Savage. Ugly or not, beating the Rockets (in anything) is a salve to soothe all ills. There's really not a whole lot to say about the game. The Rockets are terrible, and they shouldn't have even been in this game. Unfortunately, the Falcons played almost as badly and let them stick around. I've rarely seen so many passes bounce off of hands or just sail out of bounds untouched. But, again, they managed to pull it out in the end, and that's all that matters. And the game wasn't the only thing that was ugly. The weather outside was frightful, and I was soaked by the time I got into the arena. After the game, there was a small lake inside the parking garage I was in. And the drive home, which should take around two hours, took more than three due to severe winds blowing over no fewer than three semis along the way. But, much like the game, I made it eventually, and that's all that matters. Also on the bright side, I didn't have to pay to get into the game. A gentleman standing with his son near the ticket windows had one extra ticket, and since I was by myself, he offered it to me for free just so it wouldn't go to waste. I always do the same when I have extras, but it's an unexpected delight when it comes back around.

Bowling Green 68 Western Michigan 61

Men's Basketball Home Team: BGSU Falcons Visiting Team: Western Michigan Broncos Venue: Anderson Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio) Game Time: 7:00 p.m. Fellow Attendees: None The education of Otis Polk continues. The big man was a beast tonight, and a lot of fun to watch. It seems like he's finally figuring out how he needs to play in order to keep himself out of foul trouble and on the floor. And that's great to see, because I think he can be a serious force in the MAC. Everyone knows what he can do on the defensive end; if we can start getting more performances like this from him on the offensive end, oh boy, watch out.

Miami 67 Bowling Green 60

Men's Basketball Home Team: BGSU Falcons Visiting Team: Miami RedHawks Venue: Anderson Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio) Game Time: 7:00 p.m. Fellow Attendees: None Sometimes I'm not sure what to think about this year's BG team, and this is one of those times. They looked pretty solid early in the year...granted, mostly against lesser competition, but also in a close loss to Ohio State. As the season has progressed, though, it seems like they're getting worse instead of better. I know they go through stretches when they have trouble scoring, which is one thing. Tonight, though, they went through a couple of stretches when it didn't look like they knew what they were doing anywhere on the floor, and that's discouraging. That they managed to make this a close game is pretty astounding; had they been able to maintain competence particularly coming out of the half, they likely would have won. Still, there's no great shame in losing to Miami, one of two non-BG programs in the MAC that I actually have quite a bit of respect for (the other being Kent State). Charlie Coles is a great coach - you know his guys are going to be tough, year in and year out.

Troy 55 Piqua 42

Boys' Basketball Home Team: Troy Trojans Visiting Team: Piqua Indians Venue: Trojan Activities Center Game Time: 7:30 p.m. (theoretically) Fellow Attendees: None (JV Score: Troy 73 Piqua 50) Well, it's not football, but a Trojan victory over Piqua in anything is a good way to start the year. This was just the Trojans' second win of the year, against nine losses. Unfortunately, this was the first time I've seen them, so I can't really speak to why they haven't had much success. They looked pretty decent to me. They've got a couple of big guys down in the post who look pretty good. The guards aren't anything spectacular, but they seemed solid enough. Maybe they're putting things together and will win some more games from here on out. Or maybe Piqua is just that bad. Time will tell. I was really impressed with Troy' JV team. I didn't see any amazing talent, but they seemed to be really well coached. They were pretty fundamentally sound for guys so young, especially in terms of passing and defense. They had a good feel for where the other guys were on the floor, and they were fun to watch. They played an uptempo style, quite a contrast from the varsity team's more deliberate play. Of course, that resulted in quite a few fouls, and the refs in that game were quite whistle-happy. The JV game started at 6:00, with the varsity scheduled to begin at 7:30. The varsity game didn't end up starting until about 8:10. That one went quite a bit faster, though, and I was on my way out by 9:15 or so.

Bowling Green 78 Eastern Illinois 60

Men's Basketball Home Team: BGSU Falcons Visiting Team: Eastern Illinois Panthers Venue: Anderson Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio) Game Time: 2:00 p.m. Fellow Attendees: None Ah, my first sporting event in over a month, and my first time back on the BGSU campus in even longer. I missed a couple of home basketball games in that span, a rarity for me, due to prior commitments, so it was good to be back in "The House That Roars." I missed it. Of course, it wasn't roaring on this day, not with the student body almost entirely absent due to Christmas break. There was a cheerleading squad there, but no dance team, no pep band, and very few student fans. That makes for a dead arena. As irritating as some of the students can be at times, the atmosphere without them is mostly non-existent. That didn't seem to bother the team, though. They jumped on the Panthers from the opening tip and never really let up. I really like the way these guys play together, and I still think the fact that Nate Miller and Chris Knight haven't cracked the starting lineup is a great sign. Knight showed some good things as this game went along - he's still getting into the flow after missing some time due to an injury and then a short suspension. He was strong on the boards and showed some scoring touch as well. The other player who caught my eye was freshman forward Scott Thomas. His line doesn't show anything impressive, but I liked how active he was on the floor, and he made some nice passes into the post. Not much else to say about this game...BG was definitely the superior team, and they did what they should do against a weaker team. I'll be there when they return to Anderson Arena again next Saturday, the first game of the new year. Hopefully some of the students will be back for that one as well.