Men's Basketball
Home Team: BGSU Falcons
Visiting Team: Wayne State Warriors
Venue: Anderson Arena (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None
Walking into Anderson Arena for the first time following an eight-month absence is always a special occasion. The tipoff of a new season brings one of my favorite times of year. There are few things I like better than sitting amongst familiar faces on Anderson's old wooden bleachers, cheering the Falcons on to victory.
This was my first chance this year to see the guys in action, and the Div. II opponent allowed me to sit there and take everything in without too much stress about the outcome. I was pretty impressed by what I saw. For the first time in quite some time, I'm able to say that the Falcons are pretty deep. Deep enough, in fact, that the two leading scorers from last year's team are, for the time being at least, coming off the bench instead of starting. I don't expect that to continue throughout the season, or really even for very much longer, but the simple fact of the matter remains that there will be guys on the bench that are capable and worthy of starting. That's huge, as Coach Orr will be able to keep guys' minutes down instead of playing some guys 35-40 minutes a night, which has led to players being worn down by the end of most past seasons. Also, I don't think there's anyone on the roster now that makes you cringe when they come into the game, which hasn't always been the case in the past. Everybody out there is at least solid.
A big component of that newfound depth is the return of junior forward Erik Marschall, who didn't play last year due to injuries. Now it looks like he has bionic legs because of the way they're wrapped, but it's great to see him back out there and playing well. I admit to grimacing a couple of times when he landed on the floor or when other guys were falling around his feet, expecting the worse, but he came away with no trouble each time. Here's to an injury-free season for Erik - not just because we need him, but because he deserves it.
I was also impressed with the play of Darryl Clements. I wasn't exactly enamored with his game last year, when he was often, admittedly, playing out of position, but he looked so much better tonight than he did all of last season. Kudos to him for putting in the work to make that happen.
Aside from all that, this was a pretty standard game against an overmatched opponent. The Falcons beat the Warriors mostly from the perimeter in the first half, and mostly from the inside in the second half. Everybody who dressed played at least a little bit, and everybody looked pretty solid. Forwards Nate Miller and Chris Knight, suspended for the first three games of the season, looked like they were trying to find their way into the flow a little bit; Nate managed to do so, ending up leading the team in scoring and rebounds, whereas CK looked (to my untrained eye) like he was struggling a bit. But he's the type of player to take what he's given, and I have no doubt that he's going do some big things this year.
Maybe the biggest story of the night is related the game in only the most tangential of ways. On my drive home, I put gas in my car for $1.569 per gallon. That, my friends, is awesome.
Now that the first home game is out of the way, the Falcons will be away from Anderson for nearly a month, not coming home again until December 14. Their next game, though, is on Monday in Columbus, as they travel down Rt. 23 to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. I'm still debating if I'm going to make the trip across I-70 from Troy to see them, but knowing myself, I'd have to say it's pretty likely.
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