Sunday, February 13, 2005

Big Win for Falcons

The Falcons picked up a huge win at Kent State yesterday. Probably, the biggest win of the season for our team. Kent was #73 in Sagarin, with wins at Creighton and Florida State and nearly a win at Boston College. Furthermore, they have owned us during the Dakich years.

Yesterday was different. We jumped out to a fast lead. In fact, with 7:14 left in the first half, we had a 21-8 lead. They went on a little run from there, but we still led by 8 at halftime.

In the first five minutes of the second half, we were back to a 12 point lead at 43-31. Kent began to press, and we began to struggle, and a very fast 14-1 run gave them the lead (13:04 left). Good chance for a team to fold on the road, but the Falcons stayed with them and re-took the lead at 11:15. Kent led once more, but basically from there on in, we were maintaining a tight, close lead.

Josh Almanson was great. Besides becoming our 43rd 1,000 point scorer, he took over the game, scoring 10 or our 12 points after Kent had taken their final team with about 7 left. He finished with 23 points and 9 rebounds.

Steven Wright had a big day with 15 points and 7 assists, and Reimold added 19 points (and only one 3).

We shot 58% for the game, and that's a win for us. We haven't lost all season when we scored 70 points. We only had 13 turnovers, and shot more free throws on the road, which was also a big help. Kent took almost half their shots from beyond the arc (26 out of 54), and made 10 3s against our 3, so that helped to keep them in the game. Overall, Kent only shot 37%. We outrebounded our 8th straight opponent.

Great performance, with a tough road win down the stretch.

Courtesy BGSU, here are the MAC seedings if the season ended today.

1. Miami (10-3)
2. Western Michigan (9-5)
3. Ohio (8-5, 3-1 vs. other 9-5 teams)
4. Bowling Green (8-5, 3-2 vs. other 8-5 teams)
5. Toledo (8-5, 2-2 vs. other 8-5 teams)
6. Kent State (8-5, 0-3 vs. other 8-5 teams)
7. Akron (7-5)
8. Buffalo (8-6)
9. Ball State (7-6)
10. Northern Illinois (5-9)
11. Eastern Michigan (4-9)
12. Marshall (2-11)
13. Central Michigan (2-12)

Not bad. You're within one game of 2nd and 9th at the same time. Need every game coming home.

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