FalconBlog--Triumphs and Trials in the BGSU Falcon Nation

Well, it was a win

It was ugly at Anderson Arena tonight. Ugly, and the only positive thing was to walk out with the 70-69 win. A list of bitches and gripes follows:

1. Our first place team has 2,200 in attendence. Awful, and embarassing.

2. We enjoyed our typical final minutes collapse. With 2:53 left, we were up 5. We don't get another FG on the way home.

3. We catch a break when the Ball State shooter misses BOTH free throws, down 1 with :11 left. We fail to get the board (inexcusable). A virtual melee breaks out on the floor with John Reimold "blocking" a shot (per the BG game notes), and Steven Wright bouncing the ball off a Ball State player to final corral it. They were homered big time, and should have been back at the line. (I confirmed this watching the news highlights on Fox).

4. Time and time again, we are unable to get the ball in. Ball State is so much faster it is painful to watch.

5. Ball places absolute straitjacket D on us. We score 11 points over the last ten mintues, on TWO FGs.

6. We shoot only 47% but win. BSU shoots 53% and loses.

7. 23 of our 51 shots were from 3. Not our game plan. On top of that, we do it poorly, shooting 30%. Reimold is 3-11 from the arc.

8. The crowd was small, but it was quiet. The squeaking of sneakers was a common sound. If you see the students in their section talking to each other during play, its not unusual.

9. It was a boring game, anyway, until the final minute.

10. Having John Floyd guard you apparently makes you into Michael Jordan.

Now, there were some plusses. Not withstanding that we struggled bringing the ball up against pressure and against the trap, we only turned it over 10 times. Reimold had 28 points, and Almanson 20. We got 10 solid minutes from Austin Montgomery. With our guard situation, even 15 minutes next year would help. Vandermeer only played 16 minutes, and I don't understand why he wasn't in more later when they were running around us like pylons. He's supposed to help us against dribble penetration.

But hey, here's a plus. We won. We're in first, and we get a little break from MAC play until next week. Coach thinks we play better on the road then at home, so the NIU game should be a snap.

The MAC is completely unpredictable. Akron is not healthy, and OU is hot and at home, and Akron stomps them the night after WMU loses to CMU. The Gund is going to be an absolute circus.

Bye Standings Today

1. (East Leader) Miami (11-3)
2. (West Leader) Bowling Green (9-5)
3. Akron (9-5)
4-5: Buffalo & WMU (9-6)
6-8: Kent & Toledo & OU (8-6)
9: BSU (7-7)
10: EMU(5-9)
11: NIU (5-10)
12: CMU (3-12)
13: Marshall (2-12)