With the return of Germain Fitch and the big time play of John Reimold, the Bowling Green men?s basketball team has found themselves on a roll as of late.The team has won three of their last four games and is starting to take the form of a unit that could contend for a Mid-American Conference title.
But the team is now looking at their biggest in-conference challenge of the season in a very strong Akron team tonight at Rhodes Arena in Akron. The Zips come into the contest with a 7-4 record and a deceiving 1-2 conference record while the Falcons come into the game with a record of 6-8 and 2-2 in the MAC.
?They could be the best team in the league,? head coach Dan Dakich said. ?They are the biggest, strongest team and they have great size and quickness.?
The first problem the Zips pose for BG is the scoring threat of guard Derrick Tarver, who comes into the game averaging 23 points every contest. On top of this, he also has the two biggest scoring games in the MAC this season, registering two 44 point performances. His backcourt mate, John Hollingsworth, will not make things any easier for the Falcons as he comes in averaging 6.6 points and 3.7 assists per game.
BG also has concerns about the inside game of the Zips, which features first-year phenom Jeremiah Wood who is pulling down 9 rebounds per game to go with his 11.5 points per game.
?Wood is one of those guys who knows where to get the ball,? Dakich said. ?As a freshman, he has a great handle on things.?
The Falcons will also pose some threats to Akron as well. BG is at full strength with the return of Fitch, something that has been a rarity the past two seasons. A finally healthy team has Dakich excited for the rest of the season.
?Part of not being healthy is that I think it is a burden on the other guys,? he said. ?But since Germain has been back, I haven’t seen our team down once.?
BG has also gained the services of Cole Magner and Keon Newson, two of the Falcons? football players as well as Reimold, who was out for several weeks with a leg injury earlier in the year.Reimold has made the most of his return, scoring 30 in a Dec. 30 game against Lamar and 29 in a Jan. 3 game against Eastern Michigan.The Falcons are now at full strength and there will be no better place to show what they can do than in Akron this evening.
