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Print This StoryBowling Green (1-0) At Minnesota (0-0)
GAME NOTES: The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Bowling Green Falcons continue play as part of the NABC Classic, a round robin tournament. Bowling Green, a member of the Mid-American Conference, was much improved last season under the guidance of head coach Louis Orr. Last night, the team opened the 2008-09 campaign against Georgia State, and the result of that clash was a thrilling 77-76 victory in overtime. As for Minnesota, it faced Concordia-St. Paul last night, and the Golden Gophers cruised past their overmatched opponent by a 76-51 final as expected. Tubby smith led the club to a 20-14 record last season, but the three top scorers from that squad are gone. Minnesota has won both of its previous meetings with Bowling Green, but the programs have not squared off since 1980.
Bowling Green nearly lost to Georgia State in regulation yesterday, but Brian Moten hit a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to force overtime. In the extra session, the Falcons fell behind by two points with just 16 seconds left on the clock, and Moten's game-winning three-point attempt was off the mark. Fortunately for the Falcons, they were able to get the ball back and kick it out to Joe Jackubowski, who nailed a shot from behind the arc at the buzzer to lift his squad to victory. Jackubowski was sensational in the win, as he hit 6-of-8 three-pointers en route to 24 points. Last season, Jackubowski scored 7.8 ppg, so the outburst in the opener was a bit unexpected.
Minnesota shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half against Concordia and led 39-25 at intermission. Over the final 20 minutes, the Golden Gophers were only able to connect on 35.1 percent of their field goal attempts, including a 1-of-8 effort from three-point range, but they still cruised to victory. Clearly, a 56-33 rebounding advantage played a major role in the win. Also, the Gophers limited Concordia to 29.6 percent shooting from the field. Point guard Al Nolen led the way in the win with 17 points and six assists. He also pulled down six rebounds and recorded a pair of steals. Lawrence Westbrook added 13 points for Minnesota, which got 12 rebounds from guard Blake Hoffarber. Westbrook scored 8.5 ppg a season ago, while Hoffarber added 8.4 ppg.
Expect Minnesota to get the job done at home tonight against an inexperienced group of Falcons. Coach Orr certainly has a tall task to get this Bowling Green team to remain competitive in the Mid-American Conference.
Predicted OutcomeMinnesota 79, Bowling Green 63Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
