Falcons Steal Way To Record-Breaking Victory Over Bethany, 120-65

Thursday, November 6

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

2-0,0-0MAC

120

Bethany College

0-0,0-0PAC

Bethany (WV)

Bowling Green

120

Photo by: Avery Zuercher, BGSU Athletics

Falcons Steal Way To Record-Breaking Victory Over Bethany, 120-65

November 06, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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BGSU Swipes 27 Steals, Breaking 40-Year Old MAC Record

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Ziggyville Population: 367
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team put together a record-breaking show Thursday night (Nov. 6) at the Stroh Center. The Falcons erupted for a 120-65 victory over Bethany College, marking the fifth time in program history with 120+ points in a game. The scoring was sparked by 45 points off turnovers, thanks to a MAC record 27 steals by the Falcons. The scoring was supplemented by 36 made free throws, just four shy of the program record. The win moves BGSU to 2-0 to start the season for the second time in the last three seasons with both wins coming at home. Bowling Green will be back inside the Stroh for their next game on Sunday (Nov. 9), hosting Le Moyne for a 2 p.m. tip off.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Bethany College opened the game with a three, but a Troy Glover II basket off a Sam Towns find put BGSU on the board. Javontae Campbell kept the BGSU scoring going with a layup, the first of 16 first half points for him.
Two Campbell free throws kept BGSU within one, 7-6. Another at the line from Josiah Shackelford tied it at 7-7 before a Mayar Wol dunk put BGSU in front 9-7. Bethany responded with a 5-0 run to move to a 12-9 lead, but a Campbell layup kept the deficit at one, 12-11. A three from Bethany extended the score to 15-11.
Campbell added one at the line, but another three from the Bison pushed the score to 18-12. From there, the Falcons went to work. A layup from Campbell got it started before two at the line from Makhi Leach. A slam dunk from Javon Ruffin tied it at 18-18 for a 6-0 BGSU run.
A three from the Bison put them back in front, but five straight points from Campbell pushed the Falcons to a 23-21 advantage. Towns kept it going with a layup followed by a massive dunk from Glover and then back-to-back layups from Shachelford for a 13-0 BGSU run and 31-21 lead.
An and-one for Bethany ended the run, but a layup from Justin Thomas followed by a Wol dunk more than matched the points. The teams began trading buckets with back-to-back makes for Camden Karel for a 39-29 score.
The BGSU scoring continued with two at the line from Wol and later two more from Ruffin, separated by a Bison layup. The Ruffin free throws sparked a 9-0 BGSU run that included a Wol three, an alley-oop slam from Glover and a Campbell layup for a 50-31 score.
Bethany hit a three, but a layup from Leach, two free throws from Towns and a layup from Aiden Goins made it a 6-0 BGSU run to close the half for a 56-34 score.
BGSU opened the second half with a 10-0 run with threes from Towns and Ruffin while Campbell and Shackelford added layups. The run made for a 16-0 stretch across the half with a Bethany timeout and a 66-34 BGSU lead.
The run continued after the timeout with two buckets from Campbell and one from each of Goins and Towns for a 24-0 run across the half and a 74-36 lead for the Falcons.
Bethany added to their score, but the Falcons went to work at the line with two from Goins and two from Ruffin before back-to-back baskets from Goins. Wol followed with a layup for a 6-0 BGSU run and 86-41 lead.
Shackelford and Jason Kimbrough Jr. each added two at the line before two more for Shackelford. A second-chance basket for Karel made it another 8-0 BGSU run and a 94-43 lead.
Towns sank three at the line before a brief Bethany run. Two from Campbell and two from Goins at the line pushed the Falcons past the 100-point mark with a 101-54 score. Two more free throws, this time by Ruffin, created a 103-55 score with six minutes left.
Kimbrough tallied the next five BGSU points with two at the line as well as a three-pointer. Leach added another free throw before one from Mohamed Maxamud for a 110-62 lead.
The scoring moved back to the field with a hook shot from Karel followed by a second-chance three from Kimbrough. Karel later added a three of his own for an 8-0 BGSU run and 118-62 lead.
The final BGSU points of the night came from Maxamud to give the Falcons a 120-65 victory over Bethany.

STAT LEADERS

Javontae Campbell: 24 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 steals
Sam Towns: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Aiden Goins: 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Camden Karel: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal
Mayar Wol: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals

FALCON STAT FACTS

The Falcons swiped 27 steals in the game, setting not only a program record, but a MAC record, breaking the mark set by Western Michigan on Nov. 27, 1984 with 26 against Valparaiso.
Bowling Green put up 120 points in the contest, marking the fifth time in program history the Falcons have scored 120+ points in a game. The most recent was on Dec. 21, 2021 with 129 against Carlow, the second-most points in program history.
Through the first two games, the Falcons have shot above 50-percent in both contests while holding opponents under 40-percent in both games as well. BGSU is 11-1 under Coach Simon when shooting above 50-percent and 16-3 when holding teams below 40-percent.
In total, the Falcons had eight different players score double-digit points in the game. It's the most since having eight do so against Carlow on Dec. 21,2021. Through just two games, BGSU has had nine different players register double-digit scoring games.
As a team, Bowling Green made 36 free throws, coming just four shy of the program record of 40. It's the most made free throws for BGSU since sinking 36 against Ohio on Dec. 30, 2020.
Javontae Campbell produced the first 20-point game of the season for BGSU and ninth of his career for the Falcons, finishing up with 24. The total pushed him to 516 career points for the Falcons, moving past the 500-point threshold for BGSU.
Campbell added a team-high five steals, his fifth time with five steals in a game for Bowling Green. The last time was on Feb. 25, 2025 against Eastern Michigan. Campbell now has 99 career steals in the Orange and Brown, one away from 100.
Troy Glover II recorded six points for the Falcons, surpassing the 1,000 career point mark at the collegiate level. Glover is now the second player on the roster with 1,000 career points, joining Campbell. Glover also swatted two blocks for the second straight game.
Justin Thomas tied for the team-lead in rebounds with six and paced the Falcons in assists with four. He also added three steals and two points to his stat line.
Camden Karel matched Thomas' six rebounds for the team-lead while adding 11 points, the first points of his collegiate career. He closed out his stat line with a steal as well.
Makhi Leach rounded out the three-way tie for the team-lead in rebounds with six of his own. Leach filled out his stat line with five points, two assists and two steals.
Jason Kimbrough Jr. tallied his first career points at the Division I level, finishing with 10 to go along with his first three steals, three assists and two rebounds. Kimbrough was also perfect at the line, going 4-for-4.
Josiah Shackelford finished with 11 points for his second double-digit scoring outing to start the season. He also went 5-for-6 at the line after not making a trip to the charity stripe in the first game.
Sam Towns posted his first double-digit scoring game of the season with 14 while matching his career-high for assists with three and swatting his first block of the season.
After leading the team in scoring in the season opener, Mayar Wol posted 11 points while swiping four steals, matching his career high.
Javon Ruffin recorded his second double-digit scoring game of the season with 11. He added a career-high three steals for the second consecutive game as well. Ruffin went 6-for-6 at the line, now 9-for-9 for the season.
Aiden Goins added his first career double-digit scoring effort, finishing with his first 12 points as a Falcon. He added three rebounds and his first three steals of the season.
After scoring his first two collegiate points against Texas State, Mohamed Maxamud tallied a career-high three against Bethany. He also added a career-high four rebounds.
After tallying his first two collegiate rebounds against Texas State, Christian Dedivanaj added his first two assists and his first steal against the Bison.
Alijah Adem saw six minutes of action as well, logging his first collegiate assist.
The win over Bethany College is the first in program history for the Falcons, giving BGSU wins over 269 unique opponents all-time.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will remain at home, facing Le Moyne on Sunday (Nov. 9) for a 2 p.m. start inside the Stroh Center. From there, BGSU will head on the road for the first time this season, taking on Davidson on Nov. 15.

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