March 1, 2009

Final Stats

The UNOH Racers faced Mt. Vernon Nazarene for the third time this season on Saturday evening. Each squad won their game at home to split the season series. The game on Saturday meant more than both of the previous meetings combined, as the winner of the game would increase their odds at an NAIA National Tournament At-Large bid, and then would face #4 Walsh for the AMC championship for an automatic NAIA bid.

Mt. Vernon's Ben Falkenberg poured in a game-high 37 points to lead the NAIA Division II No. 12 Cougars to an 81-66 victory over No. 3 seed University of Northwestern Ohio in the semifinals of the American Mideast Conference Tournament on Saturday night.

Junior Josh Vorst scored the first two points for the Racers as the score was knotted at 2-2. Then, No. 2 seed MVNU (23-7) went on a 17-4 run to take a 19-6 lead by the 14:34 mark as Falkenberg led the charge by going 4-for-4 from three-point range to work the home crowd into a frenzy.

Northwestern Ohio (18-14) rattled off six straight points to close the gap to 19-12 with 10:06 to play before the half, but a 19-5 run by the Cougars over the next six minutes put MVNU in control 38-17 with 4:05 left before the break. The Cougars entered the break with a 43-24 lead.

At the half, Northwestern Ohio was led by Josh Vorst with nine points, while Freshman Dustin Guthrie contributed five points off the bench. The Racers shot just 29.0 percent from the field (9-for-31), 12.5 percent from three-point range (1-for-8), and 55.6 percent from the free throw line (5-for-9).

Falkenberg finished the first half with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field that included four three-pointers. MVNU shot 47.1 percent from the field (16-for-34), 58.3 percent from three-point range (7-for-12), and 66.7 percent from the free throw line (4-for-6). The Cougars also out-rebounded the Racers 27-18 and committed just five turnovers in the first half.

MVNU continued to tack on to its lead to start the second half as the Cougars built their largest lead of the game at 52-26 at the 16:26 mark. However, over the next five minutes, Northwestern Ohio rallied to close the deficit to 55-44 with 11:04 still on the clock as Senior Jason Sarno and Sophomore Isaac Bowers each scored five points and Sophomore Kyle Gillette added four points.

Falkenberg responded once again, though, as he scored the next nine points for the Cougars to fuel an 11-4 run to extend the lead back out to 66-48 with 7:54 left in the game. From there, the closest that the Racers could get the rest of the way was 73-61 on a trey by Vorst with 2:58 to go. There was not enough time and momentum for the Racers as MVNU was able to go on to post the 81-66 victory to advance to the AMC Tournament championship game.

Josh Vorst led Northwestern Ohio with 17 points and five rebounds, while Kyle Gillette added 15 points, eight rebounds, and four blocked shots. Dustin Guthrie finished with nine points off the bench, and Jason Sarno also tallied nine points. Meanwhile, Sophomore Brandon Miller led the Racers with nine rebounds. Northwestern Ohio shot 41.0 percent from the field (25-for-61), 23.5 percent from three-point range (4-for-17), and 60.0 percent from the free throw line (12-for-20).

Falkenberg finished with 37 points and five assists in the game on 12-for-17 shooting from the field that included a 7-for-12 showing from beyond the arc and a 6-for-6 stint at the free throw line. The Cougars shot 44.6 percent from the field (25-for-56), 58.8 percent from three-point range (10-for-17), and 84.0 percent from the free throw line (21-for-25) including 17-for-19 in the second half (89.5 percent). MVNU also won the battle of the boards 43-32.

With the loss, the Racers finish their season with a final record of 18-14. A major improvement in their second season as they doubled their win total from their first season of existence, at 9-19.