Falcons Win Another Close One

The Falcons picked up another close win at Anderson Arena yesterday, taking down the Huskies 63-59. We were down 1 inside 90 seconds, but Joe Jakubowski got a steal and a layup to give us the lead. After a free, BG was up 2, with NIU having the last possession. Amazingly, (and I mean this), we had like two team fouls. We committed three fouls in the last 20 seconds, each time forcing NIU to break their play up and inbound the ball. Very nice. (The NBA used to have 4 team fouls per quarter, but two in the last two minutes to prevent this.) Then, Nate Miller got a steal, and MOJO-JAM, and we win. Video highlights, including the steal are here, courtesy of BCSN.



We're 4-2 in the MAC right now, and for a team that was 8-26 over the past two seasons, that has to be viewed as pretty good. True--all the wins are at home, (the home team has won 31 of 36 games in the MAC this season, is that ridiculous or what?). Still, progress is better.

A couple of things stand out. First of all, we only committed 8 fouls, with three of those in the last 20 seconds. So, really, five fouls for 39:30. Damn. There were plenty of games in the past few years when we had five fouls five minutes into the game. Hell, Kevin Netter usually had three all by himself a couple minutes into the game.

So, that's a huge improvement. NIU shot only 2 FTs. Wow.

We also only made 7 turnovers, against 13 for NIU. Seven turnovers is a really good number--as to be our lowest in years.

We continue to get good play out of Nate Miller every night, and Clements, Moten, and Jakubowski also seem to be getting more consistent. Chris Knight nearly had a double-double, too. On the downside, our post play is not productive. Combined, Polk and Larson played 40 minutes with 3 points and five boards. They did block 6 shots, to be fair, but post play is not producing a lot.

We help that by playing a 2-3 zone and rushing to the middle when the ball gets in there. Teams have not consistently kicked out of that against us.

I think Falcon fans are gradually becoming more positive about the team, and we feel like we're seeing some progress, and a team playing above its actual ability, which is limited. Now we had to Ball State for a winnable road game--if there is such a thing--and then to WMU for a tough one.