Trent Jackson sat at a press conference table in Anderson Arena after Bowling Green’s heartbreaking 62-59 home loss to Ball State doing his best to hold back tears.
Jackson, like the rest of the Falcons, was distraught about the loss. It was a defeat unlike other losses this season. The game wasn’t laced with dumb fouls and a lackluster effort. This was a war that BG fought from the heart. That’s why maybe BG head coach Dan Dakich and Jackson said it was the hardest loss to take so far this season.
‘There were a lot of tears in the locker room after we lost, which was a first,’ Jackson said. ‘I knew my teammates were in a war with me. While we were out on the court, we were there for each other. That made it a lot easier on us. We just need to come in the stretch with a ‘W.’ That would make it a lot better.
BG saw it’s 20-game home win streak snapped on Jan. 6th by Central Michigan. The Falcons loss to Ball State was the first time since Feb.11, 1998 that BG dropped back-to-back home games. It was a streak that the Falcons were never looking to snap, but maybe there was a little light that came out of the loss.
‘Today, I believe we reached a great stepping-stone,’ Jackson said. ‘While we were on the court we were there for each other. I knew that my teammates had my back. You don’t see it, you just feel a lot more comfortable. We can’t just do that one game here and there. This game brought us more together. Hopefully we can continue to do that.’
BG was coming off one of its worst performances of the season in an 83-80 loss on the road at Akron in which Dakich questioned the teams heart and effort on the court. Saturday’s effort by the Falcon was a definite turnaround and something Ball State coach Tim Buckley was prepared for.
‘We knew that Bowling Green would be ready to play and they have an excellent basketball coach and an excellent basketball team,’ Buckley said. ‘We knew they would be focused defensively because I know that was a concern for coach Dakich…we were fortunate enough to make some big plays at the end of the game.’
