Moten leads Bowling Green past No. 24 Kent State

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) -- Kent State's first appearance in the Top 25 may be a brief one.

Brian Moten scored 24 points and had six of Bowling Green's 11 3-pointers as the Falcons beat Kent State (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) 89-83 on Saturday.

The Golden Flashes (23-6, 11-3 Mid-American Conference) moved into The Associated Press' rankings on Monday for the first time in school history.

Coach Jim Christian gave much of the credit to the Falcons.

"They made big shots. On every big possession, they made a big play," Christian said. "Even if we stopped them, they got a rebound. We just never could get started. We could never put consecutive stops together at the defensive end of the floor. They hit some tough shots and we did a bad job of guarding and an awful job of rebounding."

Moten, who was 6-of-9 from 3-point range, had two late layups against the Golden Flashes' pressure.

"All my 3-pointers should be attributed to my teammates," Moten said. "They put me in position where I could score the points."

Freshman Joe Jakubowski had 21 points and 12 assists for the Falcons (13-14, 7-7), while freshman Chris Knight added 10 points and nine rebounds.

"It was a great team win. We believed in ourselves," Bowling Green coach Louis Orr said. "Our guys showed the courage of champions. Right now we're in a good place, mentally, emotionally and physically."

Mike Scott had 23 points and nine rebounds for Kent State, while Al Fisher added 20 points and Chris Singletary had 16.

The Falcons led by 11 points with 3:53 to play and then held off the Golden Flashes.

In addition to Moten's two layups in the final minute, the Falcons went 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the late going.

A layup by Rodriguez Sherman brought Kent State within 45-44 with 15:14 left. After the teams traded 3-pointers the Falcons went on a 10-2 run.

Ryan Sims hit a 3-pointer before Jakubowski added a three-point play. Haminn Quaintance hit two free throws for Kent State before Moten hit a 3-pointer and Jakubowski added another 3 to make it 60-49 with 11:21 left.

"Our coaches just told us to run our stuff," Jakubowski said. "It was determination. Obviously the openings were there, but I was more aggressive and looked for my shot. When I look for my shot there are more openings for my teammates."

Christian said Jakubowski, in particular, never let his team get untracked.

"His penetration in the lane hurt us all night,' Christian said. "We did not do a good job with that at all."

The Golden Flashes got as close as 87-83 on a 3-pointer by Fisher with 9 seconds left but Darryl Clements hit two free throws to close the scoring.

Kent State, which leads the MAC's East Division, had already racked up their 10th straight 20-win season. The Golden Flashes used a victory at then-No. 20 St. Mary's, Calif., last Saturday to move into the rankings for the first time.

No MAC team had been ranked since 2000-01.

"It was a big letdown," Fisher said. "We definitely wanted this game. We just have to keep working hard and never let this happen again."