Marshall University Athletics
Hot Shooting Falcons Take Out Thundering Herd Men, 88-73
1/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Hot Shooting Falcons Take Out Thundering Herd Men, 88-73
1/31/2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green's Ron Lewis scored a game-high 31 points, including 12-of-14 from the free throw line, to pace the Falcons in an 88-73 win over Marshall Saturday afternoon at Anderson Arena. The Herd drops to 7-10, 4-5 in the Mid-American Conference, while BGSU moves to 9-10 overall and 5-4 in league play.
Marshall led by two at the half, 40-38, behind a well-balanced scoring attack. Mark Patton (Barboursville, W.Va.) led the Herd with 11 points, while Marvin Black (Cleveland, Ohio) and Eric Smith (Cleveland, Ohio) added ten and nine points, respectively. The Herd led by as many as nine, and held eight point leads on two occasions in the first half of play.
However, The Herd had no answer for the Falcon second half hot shooting, when BG hit 12 of their 24 shots, and 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, to go along with a 20-for-22 performance at the free throw line. Marshall was only 10-of-30 from the floor (33.3%) and 1-of-8 (12.5%) from three-point land in the second half.
Bowling Green took the lead for good at the 12:10 mark, when John Reimold knocked in three of his 28 points to make the score 56-55. The Falcons then went to work at the free throw line, as BGSU made ten-of-12 free throws and no field goals over the next five minutes to make the score 66-61 with 7:50 to go in regulation. Marshall cut the BG lead to one at 66-65 on two Black free throws and a tip-in by LaVar Carter (Louisville, Ky,), but Bowling Green pulled away by taking the ball hard to the glass and dishing out to wide-open three point shooters over the next three minutes to open their lead to 80-68. BGSU tacked on eight more free throws, and Marshall added a Patton layup and an Ardo Armpalu (Rapla, Estonia) bucket and free throw to make the final score, 88-73.
"They shot particularly well," said Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa. "We didn't do a good job of defending the three. We also gave them too many free throws (27-of-32). You've really got to move your feet on defense to keep from fouling them."
Patton led Marshall with 17 points, including an 11-for-13 day at the free throw line. Smith added 11 points, Black 12, and freshman Tre Whitted (Wilmington, N.C.) chipped in 11 points.
Steven Wright was the only other Falcon player to score in double figures, besides Reimold and Lewis. He tallied 13 points.
The Herd continue its road trip with a game at Akron on Monday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
