Stellar Shooting Inside Stroh Sends Falcons Soaring Over RedHawks

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball program had an electric game from the field, shooting 56.3% in the 83-73 win over Miami (OH) Saturday (Jan. 21) inside the Stroh Center. The excellent shooting spread to the free throw line as well, seeing the Falcons go 22-of-24 (91.7%) from the line. The win for the Falcons snaps a three-game losing streak and puts the Falcons at 3-3 within the MAC and 9-10 on the season.

Leon Ayers III led the way for the Orange and Brown with a career-high 31 points, his second 30-point game of the season. Kaden Metheny added 15 points, including four three-pointers for the Falcons. The double-digit scorers rounded out with Samari Curtis logging 10, including going 8-for-8 at the free throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons came out of the gates strong, taking a 5-0 lead. Leon Ayers III scored Bowling Green's first nine points, catapulting BGSU to a 13-4 lead at the first media timeout in the middle of a 6-0 run.
Bowling Green continued to slowly add to their lead, reaching 15 with a 39-24 score, but the RedHawks responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to single digits at 39-30.
The Falcons were able to rebuild their advantage with a 7-1 stretch to push their lead back to 15 with the score at 46-31.
Miami closed out the first half with a 5-0 run to bring the BGSU lead to 46-36 going into halftime.
Kaden Metheny came out firing in the second half, hitting two threes to give BGSU a 6-0 run to start the second half and a 52-36 lead.
The Falcons were able to string together a 10-0 run to increase their lead to 66-44, the largest lead of the game with a 22-point advantage.
Coming out of a timeout, Miami went on an 8-0 run to bring the BGSU lead to 66-52.
The two teams traded baskets until a 7-0 stretch for the RedHawks trimmed the BGSU lead to single digits at 76-67.
The Falcons were able to halt the run there and worked their lead back to double-digits, capturing an 83-73 victory.

STAT LEADERS

Leon Ayers III: 31 points, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 1 rebound, 1 steal
Kaden Metheny: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Samari Curtis: 10 points, 1 assist, 1 steal
Rashaun Agee: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
Chandler Turner: 4 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists

FALCON STAT FACTS

The Falcons finished with a shooting percentage of 56.3% from the field. BGSU has now shot 49% or better from the field in seven of their last eight contests.
Bowling Green finished the game 22-of-24 from the free throw line for a mark of 91.7%. The outing is the second-best percentage by the Orange and Brown this season when shooting at least 10 free throws in a game. The season-high came against Ohio Dominican when the team went 23-of-25 (92.0%).
Leon Ayers III finished the game with a career-high 31 points, the most points in a game by any current Falcon. Through the first 19 games of the season, Ayers has led the Falcons in scoring 12 times. He's also tallied nine of BGSU's 12 20-point games this year and both of the team's 30-point games, logging 31 in the win over Ohio Dominican. Ayers added a team-high four assists as well.
Samari Curtis entered the game sixth in the nation for free throw percentage. Curtis went 8-for-8 in the game, tying his season-highs for both attempts and makes, to improve his season mark to 93.8% (60-of-64). Curtis' success at the line accounted for eight of his 10 points.
Kaden Metheny tallied 15 points for the Falcons, hitting four three-pointers and adding a season-high three free throws to his tally. Metheny went 4-of-7 from the behind the arc, tying his season-best three-point percentage with a mark of 57.1%.
Chandler Turner led the Falcons in rebounding for the fourth time this season, hauling in eight rebounds, all on the defensive end to set a new career-high for defensive rebounds in a game.
Ubongabasi Etim put together a career night for his young tenure as a Falcon. Etim tallied a team-high two steals in addition to four points, four rebounds, including three offensive rebounds, and a block, all of which were career-highs.
Logging 11 assists as a team, the Falcons continued a streak of 14 consecutive games with at least 10 assists.
With the win, BGSU is 7-0 this season and 99-11 during the Coach Huger Era when leading with five minutes left. Similarly, BGSU is 8-0 this season and 107-7 during the Huger Era when leading with two minutes left.
The win for the Falcons moves BGSU back to .500 (3-3) within the MAC and snaps a three-game losing streak.
The win marks the 60th all-time against Miami for the Falcons with BGSU holding a record of 40-32 when hosting the RedHawks.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
Ayers Triple
Etim Draws Charge
Ayers Throws It Down
Me-THREE-ny From Way Downtown
Ayers And-One
Me-THREE-ny Left Open
Mills Block, Ayers Three
Falcons Win!

QUOTE FROM COACH HUGER
"We played really good defense in the first half. I thought we started the second half with good defense and as the lead grew to about 15 we let off the gas and they cut it to 10 and we wound up winning by 10. You know, the game is never over until it's over. Our guys relax way too much when we get a lead, we did the same thing at Western. Had a nice lead at Western and we relaxed and thought the game was over and the game is never over until the horn sounds. Just trying to get our guys to have a better understanding of that and being able to play through it."

Full postgame interview with Todd Walker

UP NEXT
The Falcons will go back on the road for their next two contests, first traveling to Mount Pleasant on Tuesday (Jan. 24) to face Central Michigan. The game against CMU is set for a 7 p.m. tip.

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