Gordon Drops 21 As Falcons Never Relinquish Lead In Win Over EMU

Tuesday, January 25

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

11-9,4-5MAC

Eastern Michigan

7-11,2-5MAC

Eastern Mich.

Bowling Green

Photo by: Stephen Linsky, BGSU Athletics

January 25, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-EMU Stats Coach Huger Interview Myron Gordon Interview Matiss Kulackovskis Interview Game Highlights Support Our Student-Athletes Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball program picked up their third win over the last four games, topping the Eastern Michigan Eagles by a score of 85-71 inside the Stroh Center Tuesday night (Jan. 25). Myron Gordon paced the Falcons with a season-high 21 points, followed closely by Joe Reece who added 20 of his own. Matiss Kulackovskis (16) and Daeqwon Plowden (12) reached double-figures as well. The win pushes BGSU to 11-9 on the season and 4-5 within the Mid-American Conference. The Orange and Brown will return to action against Kent State at home this Saturday (Jan. 29) for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons and Eagles began the game by trading buckets early with the Falcons slowly building a lead along the way. Bowling Green wouldn't give up the lead the rest of the night with only two ties interrupting nearly 38 minutes led for BGSU.
Bowling Green reached the first double-digit lead of the night after two Chandler Turner free throws pushed the score to 35-24. Up to that point there had only been one run of five or more points for either team, being a 5-0 stretch for the Falcons.
BGSU closed out the first half on a 14-5 run, taking a 15-point lead to the halftime break with the score at 46-31.
The trading of baskets continued into the second half before a 16-3 stretch pushed the Bowling Green lead to 20 points with two-and-a-half minutes remaining at 82-62 before ending in an 85-71 final in favor of the Falcons.

STAT LEADERS

Myron Gordon: 21 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Joe Reece: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist
Matiss Kulackovskis: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
Daeqwon Plowden: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

FALCON STAT FACTS

The win marks the second consecutive win for the Falcons, now winners in three of their last four.
The win also is the sixth straight against Eastern Michigan for Bowling Green, one shy of the longest winning streak against EMU for BGSU in program history.
Myron Gordon scored a season-high 21 points for the Falcons. Gordon is the seventh different Falcon to have a 20-point game this season, tied with Temple and Kansas City for the most in the nation.
Matiss Kulackovskis posted a career night. Kulackovskis dropped a career-high 16 points for the Falcons along with a career-high two steals, tied for the team lead. He also went 5-of-6 from the free throw line, setting new career-highs for both makes and attempts at the stripe.
As a team, Bowling Green shot 26-of-32 from the line. The 26 makes ties for the most in a game this season (Southern Utah) while the 32 is the most since Jan. 15, 2021 against Buffalo when the Falcons attempted 37 free throws.
Logging 12 points, Daeqwon Plowden surpassed his former teammate Dylan Frye for 15th on the all-time scoring list. Plowden is now up to 1,459 career points in the Orange and Brown.
Joe Reece logged his second 20-point game of the season, doing so against Miami (OH). The outing brings Reece's season point total to 212, setting a new career-high for points in a single season. Reece's previous high was set at 199 during the 2019-20 campaign.
With both Gordon and Reece scoring 20+ points, the Falcons have now had two or more players score 20 points in the same game twice this season. The other came against Miami (OH) when Reece (20) and Plowden (27) did so.
Reece also grabbed four offensive rebounds for the Falcons, now with 41 on the year to set a new single-season-high for his collegiate career. He had previously had 37 during the 2019-20 season.
Josiah Fulcher pulled down five rebounds on the night, bringing his season total to 78. That mark sets a new single-season-high for rebounds over Fulcher's career after logging 76 last season.

Our coaches are supporting @CoachesvsCancer tonight by wearing #SuitsAndSneakers to raise awareness for the lifesaving working of the @AmericanCancer Society. Learn more at https://t.co/5l0R354wLi. pic.twitter.com/hcKPnhrcs9
— BGSU Men's Basketball (@BGSUMHoops) January 26, 2022

COACH'S QUOTE
"We wanted to drive the ball. We wanted to get more inside touches and go more in the paint. I thought we did a good job of finding those guys in the paint. We attacked the switches when they tried to switch. We went inside, we didn't just settle for threes. I thought in some other games we've settled for threes and jump shots and different things like that instead of attacking the paint. That's one thing we've been working on is the switches, so everything we've been working on we saw today."

UP NEXT
The Orange and Brown will stay within the Bowling Green city limits for their next contest, hosting Kent State this Saturday (Jan. 29) at the Stroh Center. The game is set for a 5 p.m. tip-off.

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'