Strong Second Half Propels Falcons To Road Win Over MAC Foe NIU

Tuesday, January 18

DeKalb, Ill.

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

9-8,2-4MAC

Northern Illinois

5-9,2-2MAC

Bowling Green

Northern Ill.

Photo by: Luke Allen, BGSU Athletics

January 18, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-NIU Stats Support Our Student-Athletes

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

DeKALB, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball program picked up their first road Mid-American Conference win of the season, besting Northern Illinois by a score of 92-83. After going to the break tied at 32-32, the Falcons rattled off 60 points in the second half, paced by Daeqwon Plowden's 17 in the second frame alone. Samari Curtis registered his second 20-point game of the season (21) while six different Falcons reached double-digit points and combined for 89 of the Falcons' 92 points. The win marks the fifth straight against the Huskies for Bowling Green and will send BGSU back to the Stroh Center with a 9-8 record overall, 2-4 in MAC play. The Orange and Brown will next play Akron, scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip Thursday (Jan. 20) at the Stroh Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a slow start on the court, but Trey Diggs utilized back-to-back three-pointers early to give the Falcons a quick 10-7 lead.
The Falcons continued to build on that lead with the largest advantage of the game to that point coming at 21-13 to force an NIU timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Huskies went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to 21-20 and see BGSU take a timeout of their own.
The Orange and Brown regrouped in the timeout and reclaimed their advantage, pushing the lead to eight at 30-22.
The Huskies were able to close out the first half with an 8-0 run, tying the game at 32-32 before the halftime horn.
Daeqwon Plowden opened the second half with five straight points to grab a 37-32 lead for Bowling Green.
Northern Illinois closed the gap once more, tying it up at 39-39, but a 7-0 run for BGSU would reclaim the lead, extending to 11-2.
Matiss Kulackovskis and Josiah Fulcher later connected on back-to-back three-pointers for the Falcons, bringing about the first double-digit lead of the night at 63-51 and forcing an NIU timeout.
Out of the timeout, Kulackovskis hit another three but Northern Illinois soon answered. NIU went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 66-58 and see Bowling Green use a timeout.
The timeout sparked the Falcons with Samari Curtis going on a 6-0 run by himself out of the break to push the lead back to double-digits at 72-58.
The runs continued with the Huskies going on a 6-0 push to cut the lead back down to 72-64.
The two teams traded buckets the rest of the way with the lead staying with the Falcons up to the 92-83 final.

STAT LEADERS

Samari Curtis: 21 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds
Daeqwon Plowden: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist
Trey Diggs: 16 points, 5 rebounds
Josiah Fulcher: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Matiss Kulackovskis: 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Myron Gordon: 10 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block

FALCON STAT FACTS

With the win, the Falcons have now won five straight against Northern Illinois, including the last three played in DeKalb. The win also marks the 55th MAC win of Coach Huger's career at the helm of the Falcons.
As a team, the Falcons shot over 60% from the field, the best shooting percentage of the season for Bowling Green. Entering the game, the Falcons had topped 50% three times, all being in games where the team scored 100+ points, with the season-best coming in the 129-50 win over Carlow (57.8%).
Daeqwon Plowden scored all 17 of his points in the second half. The total moved him to 18th on the all-time scoring list, passing Anthony Robinson with his career total now up to 1,404.
In addition to leading the team in points with his second 20-point game of the season (21), Samari Curtis added a trio of rebounds. That brings Curtis' season rebound total to 44, setting a new single season-high for his collegiate career.
Brenton Mills registered a career-high three steals on the night to lead the team. Mills now has 10 steals on the season, a new single season-high for his college tenure.
Matiss Kulackovskis made his first career start and logged a season-high 20 minutes of action. Kulackovskis was able to log 12 points over that time, setting a new season-high while matching his career-high.
Josiah Fulcher played a key role off the bench, playing more than 28 minutes. Fulcher shot a career-best 75% from the field when attempting at least five shots in a game (6-of-8) while posting a season-high 13 points.
Myron Gordon stepped up at the free throw line, going 8-of-11 for the Falcons with half of the makes coming in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the game.
Going to the half tied at 32-32, this was the first time this season BGSU was tied at the break and just the seventh time over Coach Huger's time as head coach.
Bowling Green had six double-digit scores on the night. Those six players accounted for 89 of BGSU's 92 points.
For the second straight game, the Falcons had 15 or more assists, totaling 17 against the Huskies.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
Diggs Gives BG First Lead
Fulcher Finish
Plowden Powers Up
Matiss Back-To-Back Triples
Curtis And-One
Ball Movement Finds Diggs
Plowden-Fulcher Alley Oop
Falcons Win!

COACH'S QUOTE
"The guys hung in there. We had guys playing out of position and different things like that, but this is what it's been so far with us with injuries and guys being out. I thought we did a good job of hanging in there, hanging tough and giving ourselves a chance to win the game in the second half."

Full Postgame Interview with Todd Walker

Signatures for two guys who stepped up tonight!

Matiss Kulackovskis scored a season-high 12 points in his first career start!

Josiah Fulcher tallied a season-high 13 points and led the team in rebounding with seven!#AyZiggy🟠🟤 pic.twitter.com/zjIwCUgxbX
— BGSU Men's Basketball (@BGSUMHoops) January 19, 2022

UP NEXT
The Orange and Brown will return to the Stroh Center on Thursday (Jan. 20) to host Akron, a game that was originally scheduled for Dec. 29 but had been postponed. The game is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Stroh Center.

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons' men's basketball team on social media
Twitter - @BGAthletics and @BGSUMHoops
Instagram - 'bgfalcons' and 'bgsumhoops'
Facebook - 'BGSU Athletics'
YouTube - 'Falcon Athletics'