Bowling Green 52 Eastern Illinois 48

Men's Basketball
Home Team: BGSU Falcons
Visiting Team: Eastern Illinois Panthers
Venue: Anderson Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

One last visit to Anderson Arena to close out the year.

This game was ugly. The Falcons were 4-6 coming in, and the Panthers were 1-10, and it showed. The first half looked like both teams were playing in mittens and blindfolds, and the ball was just bouncing around at random. It picked up some in the second half, but at no point did the product on the court resemble what Division I college basketball is supposed to look like.

The biggest problem is that neither team had the slightest idea how to score. Each team made just over 29% of their shots. On the bright side for the Falcons, they rebounded fairly well, but they had a hard time doing anything with the ball once they brought it down. They really need to improve on their free-throw shooting. If they had a better percentage from the line, that would have made this win a little more comfortable.

Still, a win is a win, and at this point we fans can't really be too picky. Right now it's more about improvement than it is about wins anyway. It would be nice if they could become a decent team at some point during MAC play, and I don't think that's entirely out of the question. Otis Polk, for one, is starting to look like he knows what he's doing, which is fantastic news for the Falcons if he can learn to stay out of foul trouble--he committed four fouls in just nine minutes of action against Eastern Illinois, but he also scored six points and pulled down five offensive boards. If he can stay on the floor, he can be a monster. With the gutty play of Nate Miller (17 pts., 14 rebounds) and the emering point guard play of Joe Jakubowski, there are some pieces there. If Chris Knight can return to his early season form, I still think this can be a respectable team by the time the MAC Tournament rolls around.

The Falcons will ring in the New Year with two more home games this week: against Duquesne on Wednesday, and then the MAC opener against Ohio next Saturday. I'll be in attendance for both.