Campbell’s 2000th Career Point Leads Team Effort As BGSU Bests NIU

Wednesday, February 11

DeKalb, Ill.

8 p.m. EST

Bowling Green State University

15-10,6-6MAC

Northern Illinois

8-15,3-8MAC

Bowling Green

NIU

Campbell’s 2000th Career Point Leads Team Effort As BGSU Bests NIU

February 11, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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Glover Swats Five First Half Blocks, Most By A Falcon Since 2023

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

DeKALB, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team got back in the win column Wednesday night (Feb. 11) with a 68-52 road victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Falcons put together a dominant first half, holding NIU to 19 points, to spark a 19-point halftime lead. Bowling Green rolled that momentum into the second half, growing the lead as large as 25 over the course of the game. The win marks the fourth consecutive over NIU for the Falcons, moving Bowling Green to 6-6 within the MAC this season and 15-10 overall going into Saturday's (Feb. 14) Battle of I-75 at the Stroh Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Northern Illinois won the opening tip, but a Javontae Campbell steal forced an early turnover. It wasn't until nearly two minutes into the game, the clock at 18:14, for the first points coming from two NIU free throws.
The Falcons went to work from there with a 10-0 run. Campbell tallied back-to-back layups to start the run. A Troy Glover II block on the defensive end turned into a Glover slam on the offensive end off a Campbell lob. Towns worked in with a layup before slamming down a second Campbell lob, this time off a Campbell steal, for a 10-2 BGSU lead and an NIU timeout.
BGSU kept the run going out of the break with Campbell locating Aiden Goins for a layup. The Huskies ended the run with a three, sparking a 5-0 burst to cut into the lead. Goins restarted BGSU's scoring with two at the line for a 14-7 score at the under-12 media timeout.
After the timeout, Justin Thomas made two free throws to add to BGSU's lead. Mayar Wol drained a three to push the run to 5-0, but NIU matched from behind the arc. Thomas swung momentum back to the Falcons with a slam off an offensive board. Towns later added a jumper to keep the BGSU lead at 23-14 with the action pausing for the under-8 media break.
Soon after the timeout, Josiah Shackelford swiped a steal and slammed down a two-handed dunk in transition. Glover later followed with an and-one to push the Bowling Green lead to 28-16 at the final media timeout of the first half.
Wol worked for a 5-0 burst on his own after the stoppage before the next NIU basket, but he went back to work with another 5-0 run, making it a 10-2 stretch of Wol versus the Huskies. NIU tallied a free throw for the last point of the half, sending the teams to the locker room with a 38-19 BGSU lead.
Towns tallied Bowling Green's first points of the second half with a layup, but it came as part of a 7-2 NIU stretch to begin the half. Wol ended the run with a transition slam off an outlet pass from Shackelford. Campbell followed with a layup the next time down for a 44-26 Falcon advantage at the first media timeout of the second half.
Out of the timeout, Campbell sank two at the stripe for BGSU. He followed with a steal and score and then a three-pointer for a 7-0 run on his own. NIU ended the run, but a Campbell inbound lob to Shackelford for a layup followed. The Huskies added back-to-back layups before the under-12 media timeout for a 53-33 BGSU lead.
Northern Illinois tallied the first points out of the break, but Thomas matched with a layup to keep the BGSU lead at 20. Glover added one at the line before an NIU three, but a Thomas jumper again kept the BGSU lead at 20. From there, a three from Javon Ruffin and a layup from Goins made for a 5-0 BGSU run and a 63-38 lead at the under-8 media timeout.
After the stoppage, NIU added two at the line. Shackelford made one for BGSU, but an NIU layup followed. The back-and-forth continued with a Thomas swipe and slam for the Falcons, making it a 66-44 score at the final media timeout in regulation.
Goins registered a layup for the Falcons, but NIU registered an 8-0 run down the stretch to narrow the gap to the 68-52 final score.

STAT LEADERS

Mayar Wol: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
Javontae Campbell: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
Justin Thomas: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Sam Towns: 8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
Troy Glover II: 6 points, 2 rebounds, 5 blocks, 1 steal

FALCON STAT FACTS

Scoring the first four BGSU points of the game, Javontae Campbell quickly surpassed the 2,000-career point mark at the collegiate level. Campbell entered with 1,997 points at all levels of college basketball. He finished with 13 points in the game, 2,010 for his career, while adding six rebounds, a team-leading five assists and three steals.
Campbell's three steals gives him 82 this season, moving up into a tie for second in program history for single-season steals, matching DeMar Moore's 1996-97 season. Campbell now trails only his own record, set at 90 steals last season.
Troy Glover II swatted away five blocks in the first half alone, becoming the first Falcon with five blocks in a game since Rashaun Agee had five against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 3, 2023. Glover now has at least one block in 10 of the last 11 games with 21 total over the 11-game stretch. He finished with six points, five blocks, two rebounds and a steal.
Mayar Wol led the Bowling Green scoring effort with 15 points, including going 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Wol's 15 points give him 293 points this season, a new career-high for his collegiate career.
Sam Towns narrowly missed a double-double for the Falcons, finishing with a team-high nine rebounds to go along with eight points, three steals and two assists. All nine of his rebounds came on the defensive end, tying his career-high for defensive rebounds in a game.
Justin Thomas tallied his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season, finishing with 10 points for the Falcons. He added five rebounds, three assists and three steals for a complete stat line.
Bowling Green held Northern Illinois to 19 first half points, the fewest points in a half by a BGSU opponent this season.
The win moves Bowling Green back to .500 in the MAC this season with a 6-6 record. It also marks the fourth straight win over NIU for BGSU and the sixth consecutive against NIU in DeKalb.

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"I thought the consistency of effort for 40 minutes was there. Road games in the MAC are difficult. This is a team that has three MAC home wins already, so we knew what we were getting ourselves into and we knew the effort it was going to take to get a [win]."

UP NEXT
The Falcons will return home to the Stroh Center on Saturday (Feb. 14) for the second leg in the Battle of I-75. The game will be an Orange Wave for BGSU along with the Bird Reveal for the mascots following the game.

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