BGSU's Fight Falls Short In MAC Semifinal Friday

Friday, March 15

Cleveland, Ohio

5 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

20-13,10-8MAC

Kent State

17-16,8-10MAC

Kent St.

Bowling Green

Photo by: Daniel Carlson

March 15, 2024 | Men's Basketball

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Hill Registers 18th 20-Point Game Of The Season

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team saw their run in the MAC Tournament come to a close on Friday (March 15), coming up short to the Kent State Golden Flashes, 73-60, in the MAC Semifinal round. The Falcons accomplished a 20-win season in the first year under Coach Simon and will await postseason determination in the coming days.

Marcus Hill scored BGSU's first seven points of the game, but two Kent State threes kept the score at 7-6. The two teams traded scores to a 20-20 tie in the first half, but a 10-2 Kent State run extended their lead to 32-22. The Falcons fought back, drawing the score to 34-28 at the half. In the second half, Bowling Green continued to narrow the gap, coming within a possession at 45-42, but Kent State's 12-of-18 night from three mounted a 73-60 final despite BGSU shooting 16-of-17 (94%) from the free throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons won the opening tip with Marcus Hill getting the first points of the game for a 2-0 BGSU lead. Hill added a three after BGSU forced a pair of turnovers for a 5-0 lead.
Kent State hit a three just before the shot clock expired for their first points of the game. Hill hit a jumper for the Falcons before another KSU three for a 7-6 score.
Rashaun Agee drew a foul and made both free throws to extend the BGSU lead to 9-6 at the first media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Sam Towns made a second-chance layup for the Falcons before another Kent State three. Agee made a layup with the Golden Flashes connecting on a three. A KSU layup pushed them to a 14-13 lead at the under-12 break.
Kent State added a free throw after the timeout before a Hill floater for a 15-15 tie. Da'Shawn Phillip hit a three to give the Falcons the lead, but a 5-0 Kent State run swung the score to them at 20-18 with two Jason Spurgin free throws tying it at 20-20.
The Golden Flashes moved in front 24-20 with a Spurgin hook shot drawing BGSU within two. A KSU 5-0 burst pushed their lead to 29-22 with the Falcons taking a timeout.
A three out of the timeout pushed the Kent State run to 8-0 with a 32-22 lead. A Hill jumper ended the run for the Golden Flashes with two Trey Thomas free throws making it 32-26. Kent State took a 34-28 lead into half after a Hill layup to end the half.
A Kent State jump shot opened the second half followed by a Spurgin layup. KSU made a three before Agee went to the free throw line, making both attempts followed by a Kent State shot for a 41-32 score.
A layup for Agee followed by a transition layup for Hill cut the lead down to 41-36 at the first media timeout of the second half.
Out of timeout, Kent State added two before a Towns free throw for Bowling Green. Kent State made a layup for a 45-37 lead.
Hill climbed the ladder for a tip-in at the rim. He followed it with a three on the next possession to cut the lead down to 45-42 and force a Kent State timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Golden Flashes added four points for a 49-42 lead at the under-12 media timeout.
KSU made a free throw out of the timeout before two free throws from Hill, but a Kent three and jumper made it 55-44. Agee ended the run with an and-one to cut it to 55-47 at the under-8 media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Agee sank two more free throws for a 5-0 run on his own, but Kent State answered with a 5-0 run before two Thomas free throws. Another three for KSU made it 63-51 at the final media timeout of regulation.
Spurgin made a layup coming out of the timeout with a monstrous block on the defensive end to maintain the 63-53 score.
Agee made a layup for BGSU, but the Kent State lead stretched to 70-57 to force a BGSU timeout.
Trey Thomas hit a three after the timeout to cut the lead down to 70-60. The Golden Flashes added three free throws for a 73-60 score.

STAT LEADERS

Marcus Hill: 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Rashaun Agee: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Jason Spurgin: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
Trey Thomas: 7 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Sam Towns: 5 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal

FALCON STAT FACTS

As a team, Bowling Green shot a season-best 94.1% from the free throw line, going 16-of-17 at the line.
Leading the Falcons in scoring, Marcus Hill played all 40 minutes and registered his 18th 20-point game of the season, finishing with 22 points. Hill added six rebounds in this game as well.
Rashaun Agee recorded a team-high seven rebounds to bring his season rebound total to 327. That moves Agee up to eighth all-time in program history for single-season rebounds, passing Cornelius Cash. Agee added 15 points to his stat line.

TODD WALKER RADIO CALLS
Phillip Triple
Hill Reverse
Hill Tough Tip-In
Agee And-One
Spurgin Block
Postgame Interview with Head Coach Todd Simon

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"Not the result we wanted, but we played tough. We did a lot of good things; making free throws, taking care of the ball. Just couldn't get shots to fall and they caught fire. They probably had the best shooting night of the season at the right time. Guys just put them on their back and hats off to them. Couldn't be more proud of this group. These guys next to me [Jason Spurgin and Rashaun Agee] led this program back to a chance to compete at a championship level in the MAC. 20 wins and did a lot of great things behind the leadership of these two guys."

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