March 1, 2003
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN - A 59.3 free-throw percentage stifled Miami (13-12; 11-5 Mid-American Conference) as it lost its seventh straight contest at Bowling Green's Anderson Arena, falling to the Falcons (11-14; 7-9 MAC), 51-48. The RedHawks put together a late surge, but were unable to capitalize on a critical possession at the end of the game. The win ended a seven-game losing skid for the Falcons.
The two teams went back and forth early in the first half, but a pair of Josh Hausfeld layups off BGSU turnovers quickly handed the RedHawks an 8-4 lead. Miami continued to surge to a six-point advantage, 14-8, with 6:15 left in the first half. The Falcons went on a 7-1 run to shrink the RedHawk lead to two with 3:05 remaining in the first half, 15-13. A pair of treys by Chet Mason upped the Miami lead to seven, 21-14, at the 1:54 mark. Bowling Green was able to cut the Miami lead to four by the half, 21-17.
Opening up the second stanza on an 18-4 run over the first 6:30 of the half, Bowling Green was able to notch a 10-point lead at the 13:38 mark, 35-25, highlighted by a pair of Cole Manger three pointers. A trey from Larry Drake and layups by Gene Seals and Hausfeld brought Miami back within three, 35-32, with 9:46 left to play. BGSU rattled off a 9-1 run to post its largest lead of the game--11 points--at the 6:14 mark, 44-33. The Falcons owned a 46-35 lead at the 5:31 mark, but that is when the RedHawks began their come back.
A three-point play by Mason with 5:04 left to play ignited a 13-3 run, which pulled Miami to within one, 49-48, with 13 seconds left. Doug Williams drained a pair of free throws, and Juby Johnson followed with a fastbreak layup to cut the gap to four, 46-42, with 3:49 remaining. Kevin Netter hit one of his two free-throw attempts for the Falcons to give them a three-point cushion, but Mason hit a two-point bucket to bring Miami to within three. Netter again went to the free-throw line and connected on both attempts to up the BGSU lead to five, 49-44. Williams then drilled a trey with 47 seconds left. Miami came back down the floor and Gene Seasle was fouled. He connected on the first of his two free-throw attempts and missed the second. Miami got the rebound back, but threw the ball away, and BGSU's Manger drove for a layup and was fouled. He hit both free throws with one second left to ice the game for the Falcons, 51-48.
Mason led the RedHawks with 14 points, four rebounds and five steals. Netter paced Bowling Green with 22 points and eight boards.
