Falcons Fly South For Fort Myers Tip-Off Against Bucknell, VMI

Monday, November 24

Fort Myers, Fla.

12 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Bucknell

Photo by: Avery Zuercher, BGSU Athletics

November 23, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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BGSU, Bucknell Set For 12 p.m. Tip Monday; Falcons To Face VMI Wednesday At 11 a.m.

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team will head south to Fort Myers, Fla. for the Fort Myers Tip-Off this week. Bowling Green will begin play against Bucknell on Monday (Nov. 24) with a 12 p.m. tip. The Falcons will continue their schedule on Wednesday (Nov. 26) against VMI at 11 a.m. Both games will be available to stream on PassThaBall Live with a radio feed from Kevin Piel available on WFRO Eagle 99.

Opening Tip
The Falcons will head on the road to the Fort Myers Tip-Off, hosted in Fort Myers, Fla. for their next two contests. Bowling Green will face Bucknell on Monday (Nov. 24) and VMI on Wednesday (Nov. 26), both new opponents in program history bringing BGSU's total opponents faced to 332 all-time. The last Fort Myers Tip-Off for BGSU was in 2021-22, going 1-2 at the event. Coach Simon competed in Fort Myers the same year, the then head coach for Southern Utah. Simon and the Thunderbirds went 2-1, winning their portion of the event. Javontae Campbell enters the week leading the nation in steals per game while the Falcons as a team lead the nation in the same stat as well.

Campbell Stealing The Show
Through the first five games of the season, Javontae Campbell has firmly placed himself among the best thieves in college basketball. Campbell has already amassed 22 steals for the Orange and Brown, tied for the nation's lead. Last year, Campbell totaled 90 steals for the Falcons, breaking the program's single-season record. Now, he's on pace for 136 this year, which would give him 226 as a Falcon. That mark would match the program's career steals record, currently held by assistant coach Anthony Stacey. For those looking to follow Campbell's projections, Falcon Sports Media Network's Tyler Kavalecz is doing a game-by-game update on his Twitter/X page (@TKavaleczSports).

Scouting The Bison
Bucknell began the season strong with a pair of wins, topping both Delaware and Mount St. Mary's, but have since dropped four in a row to enter the Fort Myers Tip-Off with a 2-4 standing. The losses began with Princeton and Hofstra before continuing with Pitt and nationally ranked St. John's. Bucknell is coming off an 18-15 campaign in 2024-25, including a 13-5 record in the Patriot League. They made the conference tournament, besting Loyola in overtime in a Quarterfinals matchup. However, they came up short to Navy, 83-77, in the semifinal round. As for this season, Bucknell is led by 6-foot-11 freshman Amon Dorres. Dorres is playing a team-high 29.3 minutes per game while averaging a team-leading 13.8 points per game. Dorres is joined by 6-foot-9 senior Rout Bijiek with 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game. The Falcons will be the first of two consecutive MAC opponents for the Bison in Fort Myers, facing Buffalo on Wednesday (Nov. 26).

Scouting The Keydets
VMI is off to a 3-4 record to begin the 2025-26 season. They've tallied wins against Johnson & Wales, Southern Indiana and Virginia University of Lynchburg. Their losses have been to Missouri, Jacksonville, Richmond and Stetson. Last year, VMI went 15-19 on the season while being 7-11 within the SoCon. They made the tournament and tallied wins over The Citadel as well as No. 2-seeded UNCG. Their run came to a close in the SoCon Semifinals against Wofford with an 85-65 final. The Keydets are led by TJ Johnson, averaging 20.7 points per game while shooting 41.8-percent from the field. Johnson also leads the team in rebounds, averaging 8.0 per game for a near double-double. VMI has a BGSU connection as well. Assistant Coach Nick Korta was recently on the Falcons' staff, beginning as director of player personnel for two seasons under Coach Huger (2021-23) before a year as the director of player development for a season under Coach Simon (2023-24). Before taking on the Falcons, VMI will face Buffalo on Monday (Nov. 24).

All-Time Marks
The meetings against Bucknell and VMI will both be the first in program history for the Falcons. The two will join Texas State, Bethany College and Le Moyne as new all-time opponents for the Falcons, giving BGSU 332 teams faced over the history of the program. Of the previous 330 teams faced, the Falcons have defeated 270.

Familiar With Fort Myers
While this is Coach Simon's first trip to the Fort Myers Tip-Off with BGSU, he's no stranger to the event and neither are the Falcons. During the 2021-22 campaign, when Simon was the head coach for Southern Utah, Simon led the Thunderbirds to a Fort Myers Tip-Off title, going 2-1 at the event with the only loss being a double-overtime, 75-68 final, against Cal. The final game for Simon that clinched his title at the event was a win over none other than Bowling Green. Simon and the Thunderbirds came away with an 87-73 final in that contest. As for BGSU's overall record, they went 1-2 in the event with the win coming against Milwaukee with an 82-68 victory.

Double-Digit Scorers
The last time out, Justin Thomas tallied 10 points for the Falcons, his first double-digit outing of the season. Through just five games, Bowling Green has already had 10 different players log double-digit points in a game. Javontae Campbell and Josiah Shackelford lead the way with five each, the only two Falcons with double-digit points in each game so far. Sam Towns has had four while Javon Ruffin and Mayar Wol have three. The list rounds out with Troy Glover II, Aiden Goins, Jason Kimbrough Jr., Camden Karel and Thomas each with one. Going back to last season, Preston Squire had one as well, resulting in 11 of BGSU's 17 rostered players having a double-digit outing in the Orange and Brown.

Falcons Leading The Nation
Bowling Green has proven to be an elite defensive threat through their first five games. As a team, the Falcons are leading the nation in both steals per game with 15.2 as well as turnovers forced per game with 22.2. The Falcons have totaled double-digit steals in every game so far this season. As for turnovers forced, BGSU has tallied at least 18 in every game. The marks include 27 steals for the Orange and Brown against Bethany College, a total that broke a 40-year-old MAC record. On an individual level, while Campbell leads the way with 22 nearly every Falcon is contributing to the total. In total, 12 different Falcons have registered at least one steal this year.

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