The nets are still on fire at Anderson Arena after Ball State finished off the Falcons in a shootout 90-85.

It appeared that a hot-shooting first half may have been a fluke as both teams shot over fifty percent from the three-point line.

The second half proved that both teams were at the game to shoot the lights out as Bowling Green finished the game shooting 54 percent from beyond the arc and Ball State finished with an equally impressive 53 percent from the three-point line.

More surprising than these numbers are that both teams ended up shooting better from downtown than from within the arc.

“I thought that tonight was going to be a defensive battle,” Ball State coach Tracy Roller said. “It started out that way, but it turned into an offensive shootout.”

While the number of threes was unbelievable, it was the way they were scored that made the shots a big deal.

“Both teams were on a roll tonight,” coach Curt Miller said. “We both made a lot of tough, deep threes. That makes the coaches look good when players hit those shots.”

This explosion of three-pointers wasn’t an isolated event as ten different players were able to connect from long range.

Senior Kim Griech led the way for Bowling Green, shooting 4 of 7 from three for the game, while fellow seniors Francine Miller and Megan Jerome shot 3 of 6 and 3 of 5, respectively.

While the Falcons seniors were taking up all of the fun from three, Ball State felt like having an equal opportunity shoot- around.

All five Ball State starters hit two three pointers and all of them scored in double figures.

“Both teams are loaded with shooters,” Miller said. “But Ball State has a lot of players that can step up.”

The three-point arc wasn’t the only line the teams were hot from, the free-throw line also provided a safe-haven for shooting. Bowling Green shot eight of ten from the line, while Ball State spent the game scorching the nets, hitting 22 of 24 attempts.

“We tried to play a little more off the dribble in the second half,” Roller said. “We thought we had some mismatches where we could take some people off the dribble and get some [free-throw shooting] opportunities and we did.”

While Ball State is used to scoring points in bunches, it was something new to Bowling Green as the 85 points was their second highest point total of the season.

While it was nice for the Falcons to put points on the board, it wasn’t necessarily the game plan Miller had in mind.

“We tried to control the pace tonight and try to win in the 70’s,” he said. “But we just couldn’t get as many stops as them in the end.”

The Falcons will get a chance to flex their defensive muscles this weekend as they travel to Akron to take on the Zips on Saturday.