How important was Bowling Green’s 78-66 win on the road over Western Michigan last night?
“We needed this win like we needed air,” BG coach Dan Dakich said. “Hats off to our kids. I like the way we hung in and battled.”
Keith McLeod led the Falcons with 30 points and 10 rebounds as BG improved to 15-4 overall and 5-3 in the Mid-American Conference. With Akron’s triumph over Ohio last night, the Falcons are now tied with Miami and only a half game out of second place behind Ohio (6-3). Kent State still is atop the Eastern Division at 8-1.
The Falcons went into Kalamazoo riding their first losing streak of the season. The losing hangover continued early on as BG got off to a slow start, watching the Broncos take an early 8-4 lead. BG captured its first lead at 9-8 and quickly built it up to an 11 point advantage at 36-25. BG guard Brandon Pardon’s buzzer-beating 3 point shot gave the Falcons a 42-31 advantage at halftime. Pardon scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half. He also dished out a team high, seven assists.
One of the unsung heroes of the game was sophomore guard Jabari Mattox, who gave a solid defensive effort and got a couple of key steals for the Falcons off the bench.
“Jabari did a super job,” Dakich said. “I like the way he got after things.”
BG continued to build its lead up to 20 points with just under 11 minutes left in the second half at 63-43. An 11-0 run by the Broncos brought back lapses of two years ago for Dakich.
“We were up 20 on this court two years ago, and we went into halftime up 15,” Dakich said. “We ended up losing that game by nine. It looked like it might happen again.”
Western got right back into the game with a couple of key buckets by Broncos freshman Ben Reed, who had a team high 23 points. Western cut the score to 63-54 before the Falcons got a couple of three-pointers from McLeod and junior Cory Ryan. BG shot 49 percent on the night and was 8-15 behind the arc. The Falcons also outrebounded the Broncos 42-24.
“From a week ago against Akron until right now, it’s felt like 6 months,” Dakich said. “I’m glad to get out of here with a win.”
BG will be back in action Saturday with 1 p.m. square off with Miami at Anderson Arena.
