Falcons Top EMU For Seventh Straight Time, Start Conference Play 1-0

Tuesday, January 3

Ypsilanti, Mich.

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

7-7,1-0MAC

Eastern Michigan

3-11,0-1MAC

Bowling Green

Eastern Mich.

Photo by: Morgan Holscher, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Top EMU For Seventh Straight Time, Start Conference Play 1-0

January 03, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-EMU Box Score Support Our Student-Athletes

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball program began play within the Mid-American Conference with a 91-65 win over Eastern Michigan Tuesday night (Jan. 3) in Ypsilanti, Mich. The Falcons paired stingy defense with transition offense to create a double-digit lead at halftime and rolled the momentum into a 1-0 start in the MAC. With the win, the Falcons have now scored 90+ in three consecutive games for the first time since the 1989-90 season. BGSU has now won seven straight against Eastern Michigan, tying the program record for consecutive wins against the Eagles, and have won five straight in Ypsilanti.

Individually, the Falcons were paced by Leon Ayers III with 24 points, marking his third consecutive 20-point game for the Orange and Brown. Chandler Turner added his second double-double of the season while Rashaun Agee recorded a career-high five blocks in addition to 14 points. Samari Curtis and Kaden Metheny each scored double digits points with 11 each while adding seven and six assists, respectively, to their stat lines.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons opened the game by scoring the first six points of the game, including a triple by Kaden Metheny on Bowling Green's first possession. BGSU maintained the lead going into the first media break with an 8-7 score.
The Orange and Brown continued to turn defense into offense. Leon Ayers III snagged a steal that turned into a dunk on the offensive end to extend the score to 14-9 BGSU.
Rashaun Agee followed with a block later in the half that turned into an and-one layup to make it a 21-16 BGSU lead.
Agee continued to tally the hustle points with an offensive rebound and one-handed putback dunk to push the BGSU lead to 29-24.
The next possession saw Chandler Turner grab a missed free throw, finding Ayers down court for a layup under the basket.
BGSU followed up with Samari Curtis threading the needle to Kaden Metheny for a transition three and then another Ayers outlet dunk the next time down to give BGSU a 36-27 lead going into the final media timeout of the first half.
The Falcons were able to maintain the advantage through the end of the first half, going into the halftime break up 45-34.
Early in the second half, Eastern Michigan put together a 7-0 run to cut the BGSU lead to single digits at 50-42, but the Falcons quickly responded.
The Falcons were able to get out in transition with Samari Curtis going coast-to-coast for a layup to jump start an 8-0 BGSU run that increased the Bowling Green lead to 63-45 and forced a timeout from the EMU bench.
Bowling Green worked to sustain the lead, taking an 82-61 lead into the final media timeout of the game.
A late 7-0 run for the Falcons sealed the 91-65 victory to move the Falcons to 1-0 in conference play.

STAT LEADERS

Leon Ayers III: 24 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Chandler Turner: 14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
Rashaun Agee: 14 points, 5 blocks, 4 rebounds
Samari Curtis: 11 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
Kaden Metheny: 11 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds

FALCON STAT FACTS

The Falcons have now scored 90+ in three consecutive games with 93 points against Fairmont State and 102 against Ohio Dominican in addition to the win over EMU. This is the first time since the 1989-90 season that the Falcons have scored 90+ points in three consecutive games (97 v. Youngstown State, 136 v. Siena, 92 v. Wright State).
For the third consecutive game, the Falcons made more than half of their shots, ending with a shooting percentage of 52.9%, including a mark of 43.5% from behind the three-point line.
As a team, the Orange and Brown logged 18 assists, paced by seven from Samari Curtis and a career-high six from Kaden Metheny. The outing continues a streak of nine games for Bowling Green with double-digit assists.
Leon Ayers III led the Falcons in scoring for the eighth time this season, finishing with 24 points. The game continues a streak of three straight 20-point games for Ayers. He has now logged six of BGSU's eight 20-point games this season.
Chandler Turner concluded the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds to become the first Falcon this season with multiple double-doubles. As a team, the Falcons now have four double-doubles this season with two belonging to Turner. Turner added a team-leading and career-high three steals to his stat line as well.
Rashaun Agee recorded a career-high five blocks for Bowling Green, becoming the first Falcon to have five or more blocks since Daeqwon Plowden recorded five against Ohio on March 1, 2022.
Sam Towns hauled in seven rebounds for the Falcons, bringing his season total to 73. That mark sets a new career-high for rebounds in a single season for Towns.
Entering the game fourth in the nation for free throw percentage, Samari Curtis went a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line for the Falcons.
With the win, Bowling Green tied the program record for consecutive wins against Eastern Michigan with seven and have won five straight in Ypsilanti. Coach Huger is now 8-1 against the Eagles as BGSU's head coach.
The Falcons have now won three straight games and are back to .500 on the season at 7-7.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
Ayers Steal And Score
Agee Block & Bucket
Agee Putback Slam
Me-THREE-ny Catch And Shoot
Agee Block, Ayers Layup
Agee Hammer
Curtis To The Basket
Ayers Seals It
Falcons Win!

QUOTE FROM COACH HUGER
"It was the best game we played this year. We had a really nice conversation leading up to today and the biggest thing we talked about was turning defense into offense and having pride in our defense, knowing it's the best feeling when you can keep a team from scoring and then you're able to score on the other end. There's no better feeling than that. The bench was so involved in the game, cheering on their teammates. This is the best we've been all year. It seems like we're putting it together. I'm just happy for the guys, so proud of the guys and what they did and how hard they played."

Full postgame interview with Todd Walker

UP NEXT
The Falcons will return home on Saturday (Jan. 7) to host the Ohio Bobcats for the first home conference game of the season for Bowling Green. The game between the Falcons and Bobcats is set for a 5 p.m. tip inside the Stroh Center and will be Faith & Family Night.

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'