Defensive Dominant Game Falls Way Of The Flashes Over The Falcons

Tuesday, February 17

Bowling Green, Ohio

7 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

16-11,7-7MAC

Kent State

20-7,11-3MAC

Kent St.

Bowling Green

Photo by: Drake Harlett, BGSU Athletics

Defensive Dominant Game Falls Way Of The Flashes Over The Falcons

February 17, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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Glover Tallies Season-High 17 Points, 4 Blocks; Towns Adds Third Double-Double

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

Ziggyville Attendance: 241
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team hosted the Kent State Golden Flashes Tuesday night (Feb. 17) at the Stroh Center in a game that was determined by defense. Both teams were held below 40.0-percent from the field and, like the first meeting, battled back-and-forth. However, success at the line proved pivotal with the teams combining to shoot 76 free throws on 55 combined fouls called. At the end of the first half, Kent State put together a 12-0 run that proved to be the difference in the end with the Golden Flashes claiming a 78-71 final. The loss moves Bowling Green to 16-11 on the season while being 7-7 within the MAC with four games left in the regular season for the Orange and Brown.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Kent State took the opening tip, but the Falcons scored first with a Troy Glover II layup. KSU tallied the next four points, but the brief burst was ended by an and-one from Glover. Javontae Campbell followed with an and-one of his own before a Sam Towns three, bookended by Kent State threes, made it an 11-10 BGSU lead at the first media timeout.
Out of the break, the Falcons added to their total with a hook shot from Mayar Wol and another and-one, this time from Aiden Goins. However, five points from the Golden Flashes kept the score at 16-15 BGSU at the under-12 timeout. A free throw after the break for KSU tied it up at 16-16.
Towns sank a free throw to start a BGSU run. Glover jumped an inbound and went coast-to-coast for a slam. Campbell followed suit in the same fashion, finishing with a layup instead. Towns kept it going with a tip-in for a 7-0 BGSU run and a 23-16 lead at the under-8 break.
Kent State ended the run out of the break with two free throws, but one from Glover and one from Campbell matched with Campbell's coming after a technical foul against Kent State's coach. The technical sparked a Kent State run, tying it up at 25-25 at the final media timeout of the first half. The run for Kent State extended to 12-0 for a 30-25 advantage at the halftime whistle.
Glover started the second half with two at the line with a Towns layup soon following. Kent State hit a three, but Goins drew a foul and hit two at the line. The back-and-forth continued from the BGSU side with a Josiah Shackelford three for a 41-34 score at the first media timeout of the second half.
The Golden Flashes extended their lead after the break, but Towns answered with two at the line before Ruffin added three at the stripe for a 5-0 BGSU run at the line. Campbell added two more from the free throw line for the Falcons, but KSU continued to answer, bringing the score to 48-41 at the under-12 break.
Glover and Campbell each added one at the line before a Shackelford steal and score in transition. Towns later answered a Kent State three with one of his own before a Justin Thomas rebound turned into an assist for him on a Glover layup underneath, making it 58-50 at the first called timeout of the half, coming from the Kent State bench. Out of the break, Glover worked in the paint for a hook shot. Campbell later drew a foul, Rob Whaley Jr.'s fifth of the game, to bring on the under-8 media timeout. After the timeout, Campbell sank both at the line to close the gap to 58-54.
A 5-0 run for Kent State worked to rebuild their lead with two free throws from Glover ending the run with the score at 63-56 at the final media timeout of regulation. Kent State added two at the line after the break, but the Falcons worked to cut into the deficit. Campbell went on a 9-1 run on his own for BGSU, pulling the Orange and Brown within a possession, 67-65. Kent State answered back with a 6-2 stretch with BGSU's points being another Campbell layup. Wol made one at the line with Makhi Leach later adding a three, but the Golden Flashes held on for the 78-71 final.

STAT LEADERS

Javontae Campbell: 22 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Troy Glover II: 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1 steal
Sam Towns: 13 points, 11 rebounds, 1 block
Josiah Shackelford: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

FALCON STAT FACTS

Javontae Campbell led the team in scoring with his 11th 20-point game of the season, finishing with 22. He added a team-high four assists as well, the 12th time this season he has led BGSU in points and assists in the same game, including both games against Kent State.
Campbell added three more steals in the game, giving him 88 this season and 178 for his BGSU career. The career mark moves him up the BGSU list, now sixth passing Keith McLeod with 176 from 1998-2002. As for his single-season mark, he moved up the MAC's record book, passing Bonzi Wells' 1995-96 campaign for sixth on the list. The next step in the MAC record book for Campbell will be his own spot, set at 90 from last year that also stands as the program record.
Sam Towns concluded the game with 13 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and his first since Dec. 16.
Troy Glover II tallied a season-high 17 points for the Falcons, including a season-high 7-for-11 at the line, while adding seven rebounds and four blocks. Glover now has 12 blocks over the last three games, bringing his season total to 43 blocks, sitting one away from entering the top 10 in program history for single-season blocks.
Javon Ruffin tallied a pair of rebounds for BGSU, giving him 67 rebounds this season to set a new career high. Similarly, Josiah Shackelford swiped a steal, giving him 21 on the season to match his career high.
As a team, the Falcons made 25 free throws, the most for Bowling Green since making 27 the last time they faced Kent State on Jan. 6.
The Falcons held Kent State to 37.7-percent from the field marking the first time this season BGSU has held a team below 40-percent shooting and came up short in the contest, now 11-1 on the season in such games. Bowling Green has now held four straight MAC opponents under 40.0-percent.

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"The guys played really hard and did some good things. 76 free throws and 55 fouls called takes a little bit of the flow out of it. Kind of got us behind the eight ball when we had three starters with two fouls pretty early in the first half with the lead. So, we're trying to buy time. I like to leave guys in, maybe risk getting a third, but the way it was a whistle every time down the floor we couldn't take that risk. I felt that hurt us in the first half. That little run was kind of the difference in the game. A game where we have to make more shots, have to make more free throws. We have to perform better on the offensive end."

UP NEXT
The Falcons will put their homestand on pause for their next game, heading to Miami (OH) for an 8:30 p.m. tip against the nationally-ranked RedHawks on CBS Sports Network. Bowling Green will return home following the game against Miami for back-to-back home contests, beginning with Western Michigan on Feb. 24 for a Black Out at the Stroh Center.

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