BGSU Men’s Basketball defeated the Buffalo Bulls 86-78 Sunday night at the Stroh Center.
Justin Turner showed why he could be the best player in all of the MAC, finishing with 33 points boosted by a great shooting second half. Daeqwon Plowden got tangled into foul trouble early, and lasted most of the game but was great on the glass, finishing with 10 rebounds to go along with 8 points.
The Falcons open up MAC conference play with a win, and are now winners of four straight with an overall record of 4-0.
The first half was scrappy, with both teams struggling to gain control. The Falcons found themselves in major foul trouble as they registered 15 first half fouls and seven players had two fouls apiece at intermission. The Falcons held the slight advantage going into the break, 34-32. Justin Turner led the way for the Falcons in first-half scoring with eight points, and Trey Diggs and freshman Cam Young had 6 points a piece off the bench while Ronaldo Segu led the Bulls in scoring with 12.
In the second half, the Bulls broke out early. They used a combination of Jayvon Graves, Jeenathan Williams and Segu offensively and it worked. The Bulls played a lot of isolation offense to get their scoring.
The Bulls held a distinct advantage on the boards as well, using their height to their advantage to bully a smaller Bowling Green team on the glass. Daeqwon Plowden picked up his fourth foul for the Falcons with nine minutes to play and had to sit, but the Falcons rallied without him, and with Plowden back in at the under four minute mark, he tied the game with a free throw with 2:46 to go.
With 1:20 to go, Turner found himself wide open off the bounce and knocked down a three that rolled in and out, then off the backboard, before dropping in to make it 77-72 Falcons. Freshman Josiah Fulcher, who played extended minutes for the first time, pulled down a key rebound with just over a minute to go to preserve the lead at five. Then, Turner responded with a beautiful floater from the free throw line to extend the lead to seven. Then a lot of fouling proceeded, and the Falcons were able to pull it out 86-78.
“I thought it was a well-played game, Buffalo is an extremely tough team and they played really hard,” said BGSU Head Coach Michael Huger.
Turner led all scorers with 33 points, including 4-7 from beyond the arc for the Falcons. Freshman Kaden Metheny added 11 and Diggs added 10 as well for the Falcons.
Graves had 23 and Segu had 22 for the Bulls while Williams added 19. Diggs and Caleb Fields were pests of the defensive end, combining for five steals for Bowling Green.
“It’s definitely a huge win, playing one of the best teams in the league and getting the win at home. It was fun just to be a part of it and the atmosphere was really good”, said Huger.
The Falcons are back in action next Sunday at home against Wright State while the Bulls travel to Miami to take on the RedHawks on Tuesday.
