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Falcons break out the good "O" early |
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Written by Jack Carle - Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune
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Bowling Green finally found some first-half magic Saturday afternoon.
After averaging only 25.3 points in the first half over the last 12 games, the Falcons put 49 on the board against Valparaiso in the BracketBuster contest in Anderson Arena. BG then rode that 49-24 halftime lead to an 87-70 victory.
“We got off to a good start. It was unusual to go into halftime with a 25-point lead,” said BG head coach Louis Orr. “The defense we had in the first half was the difference.
“I give our veterans credit, our five starters and Marc Larson, they played the game the right way.”
The Falcons did a lot of things right in the first half — playing good team defense, which included 10 steals while limiting the Crusaders to 32.1 percent shooting from the field; scoring 21 points off Valparaiso’s 13 total turnovers; getting good production from the senior inside players with 21 points in the paint; being able to score in transition, putting 15 first-break points on the board; shooting 60 percent from the field; and turning the ball over only three times.
“It was a mind-set. I kind of took it on myself that we needed to attack on offense,” said BG junior Joe Jakubowski. “It worked for us. We got on them early and were able to take it from there.
“We got the stops on defense and got some turnovers, that gave us energy. We got out in transition, all that good stuff.”
It was the most points BG had scored in the first half all season. Dee Brown scored 12 of his-game high 20 points in the first half while Jakubowski and Erik Marschall each contributed 11 points in the first 20 minutes.
The Falcons jumped to a 9-0 lead and the Crusaders never recovered.
Jakubowski, who was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half, pushed BG’s lead into double digits to stay on a triple with 10:47 to play in the half. BG then closed the half on a 12-1 run, including seven points from Marschall and a 3-pointer from Jakubowski.
“I have to compliment Bowling Green,” said veteran Valparaiso head coach Homer Drew. “They really came ready to play. The first two minutes of the game really dictated almost the entire game, except a stretch in the second half, for us.
“The size ended up being a major difference in the game,” Drew continued. “We could not stop their size inside ... They’re big, they’re strong and they are seniors.”
Valparaiso played better in the second half and was able to cut BG’s lead to 11, 72-61, with 4:38 left in the game, turning 12 second-half turnovers by the Falcons into 18 points.
Bowling Green was able to hold off Valparaiso by making its free throws. Eleven of BG’s final 13 points came on foul shots as the Falcons were 11-of-12 from the line in the final 3:28.
BG was 20-of-23 from the line in the second half (87 percent) and 24-of-28 (85.7 percent) for the game. Jakubowski was 8-of-8 from the line, Brown was 6-of-6 and Marschall was 5-of-5.
“To play as well as we did hopefully it encourages our guys to let them know how well they are capable of playing and how well they are capable of doing,” Orr said.
Five Falcons scored in double figures. In addition to Brown’s 20 points, Jakubowski had 19, Marschall scored 17, Scott Thomas had 12 and Otis Polk added 11.
Thomas also had 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals, all team-highs for the game.
Marschall, Polk and fellow senior Larson combined for 36 points and 13 rebounds.
“Our three seniors are big men and it’s good to get them involved early,” Jakubowski said. “It’s our guards job to get them the ball and get them in the flow. That’s what we did and it was good to get them involved.”
Drew praised Jakubowski for his play, which included three assists, no turnovers, and three steals.
“He made the threes in the first half to just kind of give them all the momentum and get the 20-point lead,” Drew said. “When we started to come back in the second half, he made the big free throws that just negated any kind of momentum that we could garnish and build on.”
Orr agreed with Drew saying: “This was his (Jakubowski) best game of the year ... He led our team, especially in the second half. He got us in the offense. We had excellent possessions. That was a key not having wasted possessions.”
NOTES: BG is now 14-12 overall and Valparaiso is 15-15 ... For the game, BG set season bests in points (87), steals (14), points in the paint (52) and points off turnovers (29) ... The Falcons had assists on 18 of their 30 field goals ... Bowling Green hosts Kent State Wednesday with tipoff at 7 p.m.
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