Even in losses to Miami and Kent State near the end of the regular season, Bowling Green’s Louis Orr said
his team was improving.
Now the Falcon men have won two straight games and take their 14-18 record into the Mid-American
Conference tournament quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Western Michigan Thursday. Tipoff is at noon in
Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena.
Bowling Green advanced with a 74-54 first-round win over Northern Illinois on Tuesday. Western Michigan,
19-11 overall, got a first-round by after winning the MAC West with an 11-5 record.
"We have a good mind-set. We try to stay positive. We’ve had ups and downs. We try to look at
everything … and take the good out of it and improve on everything that we’ve struggled with,"
BG’s A’uston Calhoun said. "Right now, we feel our biggest issue is just being consistent. The last
couple of games we have progressed in that area and we’re just going to try to keep it up."
Calhoun scored 25 points in the win over Northern Illinois. In the last 11 games, Calhoun has been in
double figures 10 times and is averaging 16.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in that stretch.
ASSISTS: In the win over Northern Illinois Bowling Green had assists on 20 of its 31 field goals with
Scott Thomas recording a career-high nine assists.
In the last six games, BG has had assists on 99-of-162 field goals.
SCOUTING WMU: Bowling Green had problems with Western’s 3-point shooters in the first meeting between the
two teams this season, a 75-61 WMU victory. The Broncos were 6-of-9 on threes in the first half,
building a lead and the cruising to the win.
Mike Douglas, a 6-foot junior, has had the hot hand for the Broncos of late, scoring 53 points in his
last two games. He is averaging 9.1 ppg and leads the team with 5.0 assists per game.
Demetrius Ward, a 6-3 junior, leads the team at 13.0 ppg. Flenard Whitfield, a 6-7 junior,, is averaging
13.3 points and 6-2 rebounds per game.
Juwan Howard Jr., a 6-6 freshman, was a force in the first BG-WMU game finishing with 20 points and 10
rebounds while playing only 23 minutes.
NEXT: The BG-Western winner advance to the semifinals to face the Akron-Miami winner at 7 p.m. Friday. –
CARLE
