Sunday, February 21, 1999
BOWLING GREEN 69, MIAMI 58
RedHawks takes 2nd consecutive loss
BOWLING GREEN — Miami's latest visit to the Top 25 likely will be a short one. Now the RedHawks are just hoping to hang on to the top spot in the Mid-American Conference.
Bowling Green took advantage of clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch by backup Keith McLeod and held off No.25 Miami 69-58 on Saturday, once again foiling the RedHawks' effort to clinch the MAC regular-season title and top seed in the league tournament.
Miami (19-6 overall, 14-3 MAC), which lost at Toledo on Wednesday, has dropped two in a row since rejoining the rankings for the first time since November. The RedHawks close out the regular season Wednesday against Kent.
“Nothing has happened to jar us. We are in first place in the Mid-American Conference. That is quite an accomplishment,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said after the loss. “Now we have to get back to playing basketball. We have just been smacked around a little bit.”
The Falcons (16-9, 11-6) remain in the race for one of the top four spots in the league and host of a MAC tournament quarterfinal game.
“I thought the crowd and our seniors just set a tone from the start of the basketball game that it was going to be very difficult for anyone to come in here and beat us. But if anyone is going to be able to do it, it would be Miami, as good a team as they are,” Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich said. “I thought we showed a lot of toughness and resiliency hanging out to win the ball game.”
Bowling Green led throughout the second half, but Miami never let the Falcons get too far ahead. The RedHawks pulled to within 59-53 with 2:03 remaining on a pair of free throws by Wally Szczerbiak. McLeod took over the rest of the way, going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
McLeod, 10-for-10 from the line for the game, and Kirk Cowan each scored 14 to lead Bowling Green while Anthony Stacey scored 12 and Dave Esterkamp added 11.
Szczerbiak scored 27 and Damon Frierson added 12 points for the RedHawks. They were the only Miami players to finish in double figures.
“They played real intense and spirited, and we just couldn't crack through,” Szczerbiak said. “We kind of knocked on the door a couple times, but it was tough trying to break that lead.”
MIAMI (58)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Estick 38 4-12 0-0 4-11 0 4 8
Szczerbiak 38 9-18 7-7 3-7 4 4 27
Lethunya 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Mestas 36 1-9 0-0 0-1 1 4 3
Frierson 39 5-9 1-1 2-5 5 2 12
Grunkemeyer 14 1-1 2-2 1-2 1 2 5
Stewart 14 1-5 0-0 1-2 0 2 3
Taylor 8 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0
Locklier 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Allendorf 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Ensminger 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 21-54 10-10 12-31 11 24 58
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.389, FT-1.000. 3-Point Goals:
6-20, .300 (Szczerbiak 2-5, Mestas 1-8, Frierson
1-3, Grunkemeyer 1-1, Stewart 1-3). Team
rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 3 (Szczerbiak 3).
Turnovers: 16 (Szczerbiak 6, Estick 4, Mestas 2,
Frierson, Grunkemeyer, Stewart, Taylor). Steals:
5 (Frierson 3, Estick, Grunkemeyer).
BOWLING GREEN (69)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Cowan 40 6-7 2-3 1-5 0 3 14
Stacey 33 4-10 3-5 0-3 0 4 12
Matela 18 4-6 0-1 0-1 1 0 8
Moore 38 2-9 4-5 0-3 4 2 8
Esterkamp 36 5-7 0-0 1-7 2 2 11
Jackson 1 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2
Bunn 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Mcleod 24 2-4 10-10 1-3 1 3 14
Crespo 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-43 21-26 3-22 8 16 69
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.535, FT-.808. 3-Point Goals:
2-11, .182 (Cowan 0-1, Stacey 1-4, Moore 0-3,
Esterkamp 1-2, Mcleod 0-1). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 5 (Cowan 3, Moore, Esterkamp).
Turnovers: 12 (Mcleod 6, Moore 2, Crespo,
Esterkamp, Matela, Stacey). Steals: 6 (Moore 3,
Crespo, Esterkamp, Stacey).
__________________________________
Miami 26 32 - 58
Bowling Green 32 37 - 69
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 4,912. Officials:
Randy Drury, Steven Skiles, Dan Fouser.
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