FalconBlog--Triumphs and Trials in the BGSU Falcon Nation

Falcons WIN! Defeat Redhawks on Senior Day

I've said this before. It just isn't right how good something like today makes me feel.

BG played what might have been its most solid game since it beat Wright State, and defeated Miami in Anderson Arena, which was rocking, even though only about 1,500 were in the house. It was just a great victory, and our team really deserved it. If for nothing else, they deserve it for not mailing it in at the end of the year.

The first half was pretty tight, but Miami was starting to pull away, taking a nine-point lead with 3:30 left. But, Brian Moten hit a layup off a steal and we hit 3 Fts to cut it to 4 heading into the locker room.

For the second half, we came out smoking, essentially hitting every shot for the first 7 minutes. BG went on a scalding 22-4 run to take a 14 point lead. The RedHawks, playing for a bye in the MAC tourney (that they got anyway, as it turns out), ran off 14 straight points to tie the game up with 8 to play. They never did lead again, and with 1:35 BG was up 4.

Then, off a scramble, Michael Bramos nailed a trey, and the lead was 1. On the key possession of the game, BG ran the clock down, and when the shot clock was in the single digits, Ryne Hamblet drove to the hoop and hit a runner to put BG up 3 again.

Miami came down and turned the ball over with :11 left. Miami had only 4 team fouls, so they had to rapid foul a few times to get us to the line, which finally happened with :09 left. Ryne Hamblet nailed them both. Pollitz came down and drilled a 3, and they fouled Hamblet again. He was good as gold as he nailed both FTs again (both times in 1-1, BTW), and there you have a 68-64 final.

The place went crazy. I know it was was only our third win in the MAC this year, but it was a good win against a good team with something to play for.

Some game notes:

• Ryne Hamblet continues to play well. Tonight it was a career high 28 points, 8-12 from the field, 6-9 from 3, and 6-6 at the line, 6 assists and 3 TOs in 37 minutes. Nice line. I think he is ready to take over the backcourt scoring role if we can find someone to play the point next season.
• Samarco had 21 points (7 of 16/3 of 7) and 6 boards.
• Nate Miller had 11 points and 5 boards, and struggled, shooting only 3-8.
• Coach went back to his more typical player rotation, with 4 players (Miller 36, Moten 33, Hamblet 37, and Samarco 40) played most of the way, with Polk (19) and Clements (11) getting 10+ minutes.
• Otis? Did I mention Otis? He is a beast, had some big blocked shots, and shut Tim Pollitz down on the inside. Little Timmy sobbed all the way back to Oxford.
• Brian Moten contributed almost no stats, but he seemed to play great. He was all over the defensive end.
• I also thought Marc Larson (8 minutes) put in some decent minutes.
• We shot 60% in the second half. We had only 8 turnovers, our lowest in MAC play.
• We were still beaten on the boards (32-27), but it could have been worse. We played some small lineups today.

After the game, Coach did his usual senior day deal. He choked up introducing Matt Lefeld, talked about the pain he played in, talked about him being an academic All-American. He also said very nice things about Martin Samarco.

It was hard to forget that this was probably his last game at Anderson Arena. If it was on his mind, he didn't show it. He pushed and fought to the end.

If so, I don't think the cupboard is bare. There's time for that when the season officially is over.

In the meantime, we apparently play OU on Wednesday @ 3 at the Q. I don't hate this matchup. They were pantsed by Buffalo today, and if we can play well, I just think this is a team we could steal one from.

Long season. Much frustration. Today was a great day to be a Falcon fan.