Falcons Challenge First-Place RedHawks Early And Often In Back-And-Forth Affair

OXFORD, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team battled back-and-forth with the MAC-leading Miami (OH) RedHawks on Tuesday night (Jan. 21), nearly snapping the RedHawks' seven-game winning streak. Bowling Green and Miami exchanged 11 lead changes as well as nine ties over the course of the 40 minutes, but a late surge for Miami made the difference in the 84-76 final inside Millett Hall. Bowling Green falls to 7-11 on the season while being 2-4 within the Mid-American Conference.

The Falcons put together a hot start, jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the early going, but Miami closed in to begin a back-and-forth battle that became the narrative of the game. The RedHawks pushed in front with a 34-27 lead, but Bowling Green worked to reclaim the advantage before the half, 40-39. The lead stretched to 47-41 for BGSU out of the halftime break with Miami trimming it down to a 49-49 tie. The momentum shifted to the RedHawks, building a 71-58 advantage with under six minutes to go. A 12-2 run for the Orange and Brown pulled the Falcons within one, 75-74, but the RedHawks held on to the lead for the final.

Bowling Green held Miami to 30.4-percent from three, including a 21.4-percent mark in the second half, after the RedHawks entered the night as the nation's sixth-best shooting team from three. The Falcons registered team-highs during MAC play for assists (18), steals (11) and three-pointers made (10).

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons took the opening tip in the game with Jamai Felt winning the jump ball. Marcus Johnson hit a three for the first points of the night followed by a Miami layup for the first RedHawk points.
Bowling Green tallied back-to-back buckets with layups from Javontae Campbell and Felt to push ahead 7-2 before the next RedHawk tally, being a layup.
Derrick Butler joined the scoring with a layup off an inbound from Trey Thomas. Miami answered with two threes, but Campbell split them with a layup in-between for an 11-10 BGSU lead at the first media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Miami converted a dunk to move in front followed by a mid-range jumper, creating a 7-0 run and 14-11 RedHawk lead.
Butler ended the run with a three to tie it up. A jumper for Miami pushed them in front temporarily, but Felt got a second-chance layup to go to tie it again. A bucket and foul for Miami swung the score's pendulum back their way with a 19-16 lead at the under-12 media break.
Coming out of the timeout, the Falcons forced a turnover, turning into a Thomas three on the other end to knot it up. Campbell added two at the line. The next time down Felt added a layup for a 7-0 BGSU run and 23-19 lead.
Miami ended the run with a three followed by a layup to push back in front with a 24-23 score at the under-8 break with Felt drawing a foul to bring about the stoppage. Felt hit both at the line for a 25-24 BGSU lead.
The back–and-forth continued with a Miami jumper, but Campbell went to the line for the Falcons, hitting both to match the Miami bucket. The RedHawks responded with an and-one and later a three for a 6-0 burst, taking a 32-27 lead. The Miami run reached 8-0 for a 34-27 score.
Thomas ended the run with a deep triple for the Orange and Brown. Johnson hit another BGSU three the next time down to spark a 6-0 run, cutting the lead down to one, 34-33, at the final media timeout of the half.
After the pause, Miami added a layup, but Felt answered for the Falcons to stay within one. Campbell converted two at the line to put BGSU in front, but a Miami answer followed. Butler hit a three for the Falcons with the RedHawks adding one at the line for a 40-39 BGSU halftime lead.
Johnson began the second half scoring with a layup, but the back-and-forth of the first half resumed with Miami matching at the other end. For BGSU, Felt went to the line on the next trip, hitting one for a 43-41 lead. Campbell forced a steal, turning into a Butler layup. Felt added another bucket for a 5-0 BGSU burst for a 47-41 lead.
A 4-0 burst for Miami chipped away at the lead, but a Thomas jumper stopped the brief run with Bowling Green up 49-45. Another 4-0 spurt for the RedHawks tied it up at 49-49 at the first media timeout of the half with an 8-2 Miami stretch.
After the break, Thomas broke the tie for the Falcons at the line with a pair. Miami matched, but a Thomas three off a Felt offensive board and find pushed the Falcons back in front, 54-51.
Miami battled back with a 5-0 burst, moving back to a 56-54 lead. Thomas hit two at the line, tying the score up before a Miami jumper made it a 58-56 RedHawk lead at the under-12 break. The RedHawk stretch reached 13-2 with a 64-56 lead, resulting in a Bowling Green timeout. The score carried to the under-8 timeout as well.
Miami added to their run after the media timeout, extending to 18-2 with a 69-56 lead. The run ended with Johnson sending a lob to Felt for an alley-oop. The RedHawks added a basket out of a break, but Bowling Green quickly responded. Campbell got a layup to fall followed by another from Wilguens Jr. Exacte, cutting the score down to 71-62.
Miami sank two at the line, but Butler produced a four-point play for the Falcons, bringing the score down to 73-66 at the final media timeout of regulation. Coming out of the break, Campbell made two free throws for BGSU, but Miami answered with two at the line as well.
Back-to-back threes from Johnson and Butler for the Orange and Brown continued to cut into the deficit, bringing it down to 75-74. The RedHawks added two and called timeout with the score at 77-74 and just over two minutes left on the clock.
The back-and-forth resumed after the timeout. Thomas made a layup for BGSU with Miami matching on their end. After another timeout, Miami hit a three for an 82-76 lead and a BGSU timeout. Two free throws down the stretch moved the score to the 84-76 final.

STAT LEADERS

Trey Thomas: 17 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
Derrick Butler: 17 points, 3 steals, 1 assist
Jamai Felt: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal
Javontae Campbell: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
Marcus Johnson: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals

FALCON STAT FACTS

For the first time this season, the Falcons had all five starters reach double-digit points. The last time was Jan. 27, 2024 against Toledo.
Miami entered the night as the nation's sixth-best team from three, shooting 40.3-percent. In the game, the Falcons held the RedHawks to a mark of 30.4-percent from behind the arc, including a 21.4-percent clip in the second half.
Entering the night second in the MAC for points per game during conference play, Trey Thomas tied for the team-lead with 17 points for the Falcons, including three triples. Thomas added a career-high and team-leading seven assists as well, the most assists by a Falcon in a game this season.
Javontae Campbell tallied 14 points for the Falcons while adding four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. For Campbell his three steals pushes his season total to 58, needing three more to enter the program's top 10 list for steals in a single season. Of Campbell's 14 points, eight came at the free throw line, going a perfect 8-for-8 at the stripe.
Derrick Butler tied with Thomas for the team-lead in points with 17, hitting a team-high four threes in the game. Butler tallied three assists and matched his season-high for steals with three.
Jamai Felt registered a career-high 15 points for the Falcons, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the field. Felt hauled in six rebounds as well, tying for the team's top spot in the category.
Marcus Johnson added 11 points for BGSU while tying for the team-lead in rebounding with six. Johnson sank three triples for the Orange and Brown and added four assists and two steals to his stat line.
Bowling Green registered 18 assists as a team with seven different players logging at least one. The total is the most for BGSU during MAC play and the second-most this season.
As a team, the Falcons recorded 11 steals, the most for the Orange and Brown in a MAC game so far this year.
BGSU shot 50-percent from three in the game, going 10-of-20, marking the most triples by the Falcons in MAC play this year and the seventh time with double-digit threes.
DaJion Humphrey returned to the court for the Falcons, recording two rebounds and a steal in 12 minutes of action.

UP NEXT
Bowling Green will return home to the Stroh Center on Friday (Jan. 24) for a nationally televised edition of the Battle of I-75. The Falcons will host the rival Rockets in a 6 p.m. tip on CBS Sports Network.

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