Hill, Spurgin Lead Late Surge As Bowling Green Tops Canisius

Sunday, November 26

Montreal, Canada

4 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

4-3,0-0MAC

Canisius

4-3,0-0MAAC

Canisius

Bowling Green

Photo by: Scott W. Grau

November 26, 2023 | Men's Basketball

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

Hill's Basket, Spurgin's Block Secure Win In Final Minute

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

MONTREAL, Canada - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team concluded the Northern Classic with a 77-73 victory over the Canisius Griffins on Sunday (Nov. 26). DJ Smith hit a three at the end of the first half to send BGSU to the locker room with a one-point lead at the half. The lead grew to nine over the course of the second half, but Canisius closed the gap late. Marcus Hill was able to drive for a key layup down the stretch followed by a huge Jason Spurgin block on the defensive end to seal the win for BGSU and move the Falcons to 4-3 on the season.

Marcus Hill once again led the Falcons in scoring, racking up 26 points for the Orange and Brown. He added a team-high four assists as well, his third time this season leading the team in both points and assists. Jason Spurgin added 17 points and seven rebounds while Rashaun Agee topped the rebound column with eight.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Canisius won the opening tip and put a basket on the board before Marcus Hill hit a jumper followed by a Jason Spurgin three to give the Falcons a 5-0 run. A three from the Griffins tied it up at 5-5 in the early going.
A 9-1 stretch for Canisius after the tie pushed them to a 14-6 lead going into the first media timeout of the game.
The Falcons tallied a short 4-0 burst to cut into the Griffins' lead at 14-10. Canisius added a basket, but a 7-0 run for the Falcons made it an 11-2 stretch for BGSU to put the Orange and Brown in front 17-16.
A three for Canisius swung the lead back to them at 19-17 going into the under-12 media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Griffins added two points before a 9-0 BGSU run. Spurgin started the run with a dunk before Da'Shawn Phillip added a three and layup and then a Sam Towns layup for the run to give the Falcons a 26-21 lead.
Canisius worked to tie the score back up at 33-33 with just over four minutes left in the first half, turning it into a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead at the final media timeout of the half, 35-33.
The Falcons added two points to tie it up at 35-35 to prompt a Canisius timeout with less than a minute left. The Griffins added a bucket to make it 37-35 with BGSU taking their timeout with 23 seconds left in the half.
Out of the timeout, Spurgin dished it to DJ Smith in the corner for a three at the buzzer to send the Falcons to the halftime locker room with a 38-37 lead.
The momentum carried to the start of the second half for the Falcons with Hill going on a 4-0 run on his own to push the BGSU lead to 42-37.
The two teams traded baskets with the first media timeout coming with the score at 50-43 Bowling Green.
Canisius worked to cut into the deficit, drawing the score to 55-51 at the next media break.
A 5-0 burst for the Falcons out of the media timeout extended their lead to 60-51 before heading into the under-4 media timeout with a 68-63 advantage.
The Griffins continued to chip away at the score, trimming it to 70-68 down the stretch.
DaJion Humphrey hit a three to extend the Bowling Green lead to 73-68, but Canisius answered to bring the score to 73-71.
After a timeout, Canisius stole the inbound and got a layup to tie the game at 73-73, but a layup from Hill put the Falcons back on top 75-73.
Canisius had a look to tie it, but Spurgin denied the attempt with his lone block of the game. Spurgin added two free throws for Bowling Green to bring the score to the 77-73 final.

STAT LEADERS

Marcus Hill: 26 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds
Jason Spurgin: 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
DaJion Humphrey: 9 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Sam Towns: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block
Rashaun Agee: 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal

FALCON STAT FACTS

Bowling Green closed out the Northern Classic with a 2-1 record, the team's first MTE winning record since going 2-1 at the Paradise Jam in 2019-20.
For the second straight game, the Falcons finished with a field goal percentage of 50% or better, hitting the mark exactly. BGSU is 3-0 this season when shooting 50% or higher. Bowling Green also shot a season-best 57.7% in the second half.
For the third consecutive game and the fourth time this season, Marcus Hill tallied at least 20 points, finishing with 26 to lead the Falcons. Hill added a team-leading four assists marking the third time this season he has led BGSU in both points and assists. The Falcons are 3-0 in those games.
Jason Spurgin matched his career-high for points with 17 and added seven rebounds. He also recorded a key block in the final minute of the game to keep the BGSU lead intact.
For the second straight game, Rashaun Agee topped the stat sheet in rebounds for the Falcons, hauling in eight with four on each end of the floor.
With the win, the Falcons are now 10-6 all-time against Canisius. Bowling Green will also conclude the month of November with a 4-3 record.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
Spurgin Bank
Phillip From Downtown
Spurgin Slam
Spurgin And-One
Smith Buzzer Triple

Hill Spinning Finish

Humphrey Clutch Three
Hill For The Lead
Spurgin's Big Block
Spurgin Seals It, Falcons Win!

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"Marcus [Hill] has done such a great job getting to the rack. We just wanted to move the chess pieces and give him a lane. Marcus is crafty in there, if you give him just enough room he's going to find a way to get the ball in the basket and he did."

Full interview with Todd Walker

UP NEXT
The next game for the Orange and Brown will be against Southern Indiana on Dec. 2 before returning home to the Stroh Center on Dec. 10 against Ohio Dominican.

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