Falcons Fall Friday In Battle Of The Bowling Greens

Friday, November 24

Montreal, Canada

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

2-3,0-0MAC

Western Kentucky

4-1,0-0CUSA

Bowling Green

Western Ky.

Photo by: Nathan Kubala, BGSU Athletics

November 24, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BGSU-WKU Game Stats Support Our Student-Athletes

Hill Tallies Season-High 29 As BGSU Comeback Falls Short At Northern Classic

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

MONTREAL, Canada - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team utilized a strong second half to close the deficit Friday night (Nov. 24) against Western Kentucky in Montreal at the Northern Classic. The Falcons were able to trim the gap to just four late in the game, but the Hilltoppers stayed in front for the 72-65 final. Bowling Green will continue play at the Northern Classic against Lipscomb on Saturday (Nov. 25).

For the Orange and Brown, Marcus Hill tallied 29 points for Bowling Green, setting a new season-high by a Falcon. Hill added five rebounds to match his season-high as well. Da'Shawn Phillip paced the team in rebounds with nine as well as assists with two while adding a season-high eight points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Western Kentucky won the opening tip, but the Falcons forced a turnover on the defensive end with Marcus Hill driving for a pull-up jumper on the other end to put BGSU up 2-0.
Hill added another basket before Rashaun Agee tallied a steal and went coast-to-coast for the layup to make it a 6-2 Bowling Green advantage.
The Hilltoppers worked to tie the score at 6-6 at the first media timeout.
Out of the timeout, WKU hit a triple to make it a 7-0 run for them and a 9-6 score, but Da'Shawn Phillip answered with a corner three to knot it up at 9-9.
The two teams continued to trade points, including an and-one for Agee in the paint to make it a 15-12 score going into the second media timeout of the half.
The back-and-forth battle continued with Phillip getting a rebound on one end and a layup on the other to have an 18-16 score at the under-8 media break.
Soon after the timeout, Anthony McComb III hit a three to make it a 20-19 WKU score, but the Hilltoppers responded with a triple of their own, kick-starting a 7-0 run to push their lead to 30-19.
Jason Spurgin hit a three followed by a Sam Towns layup for a 5-0 BGSU burst that cut the lead down to 32-28.
Western Kentucky extended their lead to 37-30 before the halftime buzzer.
The Hilltoppers started the second half with a 8-0 run to push their lead to 45-30 to force a timeout by the Falcons.
After the timeout, the Orange and Brown went on a 6-0 run to trim the lead down to 45-36 at the first media timeout of the second half.
The Falcons started to cut into the deficit with the score at 51-42 at the under-12 timeout.
The Falcons continued to chip away at the score with a 6-0 run to trim the Western Kentucky lead down to 51-46.
Western Kentucky extended their lead, but a 5-0 run for BGSU cut it back down to a four-point game at 65-61.
The Hilltoppers were able to rebuild their lead down the stretch with Marcus Hill hitting a three as time expired for the 72-65 final.

STAT LEADERS

Marcus Hill: 29 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Da'Shawn Phillip: 8 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
Sam Towns: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Rashaun Agee: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
Jason Spurgin: 5 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal

FALCON STAT FACTS

A native of Canada, Trey Thomas made his Bowling Green debut at the Northern Classic after missing the first four games due to injury. Thomas finished with two points, four rebounds and an assist for the Falcons.
Marcus Hill led the Falcons in scoring for the third time this season with his second 20-point game, finishing with a career-high 29 points.
For the second time this season, Da'Shawn Phillip led the Orange and Brown in rebounds with nine, just missing what would have been his second double-digit-rebound game of the season.
Phillip added a season-high eight points, going 3-for-5 from the field, including 2-for-2 from behind the arc. Phillip filled his stat line with a season-high and team-leading two assists.

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"It was just kind of an interesting game. It was a little bit of a football game in the first half and we had three starters out with two fouls in a game where they had three fouls in the first half. It was a little bit of a different story in the second half. Once we were more full strength we were able to make a little bit of a run. We have to make those adjustments, we have to be tougher. We have to play through some of that stuff a bit better."

Full interview with Coach Simon and Todd Walker

UP NEXT
The Falcons will continue play at the Northern Classic against Lipscomb at 7 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 25) before wrapping up play in Montreal on Sunday (Nov. 26) against Canisius at 4 p.m.

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