Strong Second Half Not Enough For Falcons In Home Opener Against Davidson

Friday, November 8

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Davidson

Photo by: Kate Laney, BGSU Athletics

Strong Second Half Not Enough For Falcons In Home Opener Against Davidson

November 08, 2024 | Men's Basketball

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Campbell Tallies 22 Second Half Points, Finishes With Team-High 30

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Ziggyville Population: 492
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team opened up the home portion of the 2024-25 campaign Friday night (Nov. 8) at the Stroh Center in front of the largest student section for a home opener in over five years. The Falcons totaled a 54-point second half, sparked by 22 points from Javontae Campbell in the second half alone, finishing with a team-high 30. The late surge, however, wasn't enough to overcome the first half deficit, ending in a 91-85 final favoring Davidson.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Davidson opened the game with a 5-0 burst, hitting two at the line followed by a three the next time down.
Trey Thomas put the first Bowling Green points on the board with a driving layup. Marcus Johnson added a step back jumper, cutting the lead to 5-4. Davidson added a jumper to push their lead to 7-4 at the first media timeout of the game.
Jamai Felt made his presence known on the defensive end with a block. The next possession for the Falcons resulted in a Javontae Campbell layup for a 12-6 score.
Davidson kept the pressure on, culminating in a 10-2 run for a 15-6 lead at the under-12 break. The run extended to 14-2 with a 19-6 score, forcing a BGSU timeout.
Sam Towns ended the run after the BGSU timeout, cutting through the defense for a layup to bring the score to 19-8.
Davidson converted a three, but Johnson quickly gave the Bowling Green answer to keep the score at 22-11. Davidson added a jumper before Towns slammed home a dunk for a 24-13 tally. Free throws and a layup pushed the Davidson lead to 28-13 at the under-8 media break.
The Falcons and Wildcats traded three-pointers with Bowling Green's coming from WIlguens Jr. Exacte and DaJion Humphrey for a 34-19 score.
Davidson recorded a 5-0 burst to extend their lead to 39-19. The run ended with Campbell at the line, converting a pair of free throws for a 39-21 score. Campbell added a layup before the final media timeout of the half, 41-23.
The two teams traded baskets with BGSU's coming from another Johnson three to make the score 45-26 at a pause with two minutes remaining in the half due to a minor courtside drink spillage.
Two free throws from Thomas chipped away at the score, but Davidson answered with two at the line as well. Campbell added a layup before forcing a turnover on the defensive end. An outlet pass found Derrick Butler, drawing the foul on the attempt. Butler made one of two for a 47-31 score at the half.
The Falcons came out hot to start the second half, using an 11-2 run to cut the lead down to 49-42 with a Davidson timeout. Johnson hit two threes interrupted by a Thomas layup. Youssef Khayat added a triple of his own for the run.
Davidson ended the run with a three out of the timeout, followed by trading layups with Campbell making BGSU's for a 54-44 score.
Johnson kept the barrage going with another triple. Thomas added two free throws for a 5-0 BGSU run, cutting the lead down to 54-49. Davidson stretched the lead back to 58-49 at the first media break of the second half. A free throw after the break pushed the Wildcat lead to 59-49.
The two teams traded threes with Khayat hitting his second of the game for the Falcons. He later snagged a defensive rebound, going coast-to-coast for a layup.
The trading of buckets continued with layups this time seeing Campbell make BGSU's for a 64-56 score at the under-12 timeout.
Johnson made two free throws followed by Campbell weaving his way for a layup. Campbell added a free throw of his own for a 65-61 score. Davidson tallied a 5-0 spurt to increase their lead to 70-61, but a three from Butler cut the lead back down to 70-64 at the under-8 media break.
The teams resumed the back-and-forth battle with a layup from Thomas and a tip-in for Towns for a 74-68 score.
Two Campbell layups matched a Davidson layup to cut the lead down to 76-70 before the Wildcat lead stretched to 80-72 followed by another Campbell layup to cut it 80-74.
Campbell added two free throws and then swiped the inbound, making a layup for his 10th-straight point to cut the lead down to 82-78. He added another two free throws for his 12th-straight points with the score at 84-80.
Davidson pushed ahead 86-80 with a Bowling Green timeout. Campbell drove and was fouled, making both free throws for an 86-82 score.
Butler forced a jump ball, being credited with a steal to give the Falcons possession. Campbell drew another foul, adding another free throw to his tally but the second was waved off due to a lane violation with the score at 86-83 and Campbell having scored 15 straight Bowling Green points.
Davidson added three free throws down the stretch to increase their lead to 89-83. Khayat added two free throws of his own for an 89-85 score. Davidson added two more free throws for the 91-85 final.

STAT LEADERS

Javontae Campbell: 30 points, 4 steals, 2 assists, 1 rebound
Marcus Johnson: 19 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Youssef Khayat: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Trey Thomas: 10 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound
Sam Towns: 6 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists

FALCON STAT FACTS

The 492 students in Ziggyville marked the largest home opener student crowd for the Falcons in over five years.
Javontae Campbell erupted offensively for the Falcons, scoring a team-high 30 points. Late in the fourth quarter, Campbell registered 15-straight points for the Falcons. He added four steals for the second consecutive game to start the season. The game is the first 30-point game for BGSU player since Marcus Hill had 31 on Feb. 3, 2024 against Toledo.
Of Campbell's 30 points, 22 came in the second half to mark the first 20-point half by a Falcon since Marcus Hill had 24 in the MAC opener last season against Eastern Michigan.
Campbell also went 10-of-12 at the free throw line, becoming the first Falcon to make 10 free throws in a game since Rashaun Agee had 12 against Central Michigan on Feb. 20, 2024.
Marcus Johnson logged 19 points for the Falcons, including a team-high five three-pointers, hitting two in the first half and three in the second. Johnson is the second Falcon in as many games with five three-pointers after Trey Thomas hit five in the season opener Monday (Nov. 4).
Thomas led the Falcons in assists, registering three, to go along with his 10 points in the game. He added two steals and a rebound.
Sam Towns led the Falcons in rebounds with 11, matching his career-high. Towns has tallied double-digit rebounds in both games so far this year for BGSU, having nine defensive rebounds in both contests. Towns added a team-high and career-high four blocks.
Youssef Khayat made his first BGSU start and filled the stat sheet with career-highs. Khayat finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists over 27 minutes of action, all career-highs.
Derrick Butler tallied three steals in the game for Bowling Green, matching his career-high at the Division I level.
Wilguens Jr. Exacte sank a three for the Falcons, marking his first points in the Orange and Brown.
Jamai Felt tallied his first two collegiate rebounds, hauling in one offensive and one defensive, and added his first career block as well.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will remain at home for their next contest, hosting Taylor University on Monday (Nov. 11) at 7 p.m. The game will be Local Heroes Night for Veterans Day. .

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