The Bowling Green men’s basketball team (10-3, 1-0 MAC) started 2024 and conference play with a thrilling overtime victory against Eastern Michigan (7-6, 0-1 MAC) on Tuesday night, 92-90. 

The win marks BG’s eighth consecutive win and their ninth win in a row against EMU. FIRST HALF 

The Eagles scored the game’s first two points, leading 6-4 after three minutes.  

After some back-and-forth action, Eastern Michigan went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 15-7.  

After junior guard Marcus Hill made a jumper to end a two-and-a-half-minute scoreless drought for BG, Eastern Michigan scored five more unanswered points, extending their lead to 20-9 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half.  

After a missed free throw by senior forward Rashaun Agee, EMU drained another shot, extending their lead to a game-high 14 points, leading the Falcons 28-14 with just under nine minutes left in the half.  

Back-to-back layups by Hill cut BG’s deficit down to single digits, trailing the Eagles 29-20 with 6:48 remaining.  

However, Eastern Michigan answered with their third three-pointer of the half, pushing their lead back to 12 points.  

After both teams traded baskets, senior guard Trey Thomas made BG’s first three-pointer of the half, and senior center Jason Spurgin made a layup, cutting Eastern Michigan’s lead to 34-27 with 4:25 left in the half.  

Senior guard DaJion Humphrey made a big shot from downtown in the final minute of the half, leaving Eastern Michigan with a 42-34 lead after 20 minutes of action.  

The Falcons shot just 39.4% (13-33) from the field and 15.4% (2-13) on three-pointers, while EMU shot 51.4% (18-35) from the field and 37.5% (3-8) from beyond the arc.  

At the end of the half, Agee and Spurgin found themselves in foul trouble, entering the locker room with three personal fouls. 

On the other side, Eastern Michigan saw nine different players score points in the first half. The Eagles also outrebounded the Falcons in the first 20 minutes, 26 to 20. 

SECOND HALF 

Eastern Michigan opened the second half with a layup before Hill responded with a triple.  

After another basket by the Eagles, Hill responded with another bucket, giving him double digits with 11 points scored.  

Then, Thomas hit a three-pointer, and Hill made another layup, cutting EMU’s lead to two points, trailing 46-44 with 16:47 remaining.  

Following a few minutes of back-and-forth action, Eastern Michigan maintained a two-point lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest.  

Hill hit two free throws out of the media timeout, tying the game at 51-51.  

With 9:32 remaining, Hill hit two more free throws, giving the Falcons their first lead since they were ahead 8-7 five minutes into the contest.  

Both teams traded shots before EMU jumped out ahead again, leading 62-61 with eight minutes remaining in the game.  

With six minutes remaining, Spurgin hit his first three-pointer of the night, marking his 10th straight game with a triple and tying the game 66-66.  

Both teams traded buckets on their next two offensive possessions before Hill hit another shot from downtown, giving him 25 points and putting the Falcons ahead 73-70 with just over four minutes remaining.  

Eastern Michigan tied the game at 74 a piece with just over two minutes remaining.  

After EMU took a two-point lead, Humphrey hit his third three-pointer, giving BG the 77-76 lead.   

After the two teams traded points, EMU junior guard Tyson Acuff hit a jumper, putting the Eagles back ahead with 59 seconds remaining, 80-79.  

Following a foul by EMU, Agee split a pair at the charity stripe, tying the contest 80-80.  

On the next possession, Acuff responded with another bucket, giving the Eagles an 82-80 lead with 37 seconds remaining.  

After a timeout by Eastern Michigan, Hill drew a foul and nailed both shots at the charity stripe, tying the game 82-82 with 26 seconds remaining.  

In the final seconds of regulation, Acuff got a three-pointer off; however, he missed off the backboard to the left of the rim, forcing overtime. 

OVERTIME 

Hill started overtime the same way he ended regulation, hitting a layup and drawing a foul. Hill converted the three-point play, giving BG the 85-82 lead with 4:34 remaining in overtime. 

However, Eastern Michigan responded with a three-pointer, tying the contest 85-85. 

Hill made another layup on the next possession, giving him a season-high 35 points and putting the Falcons ahead once again. 

After a missed layup by Humphrey, EMU hit another triple, giving the Eagles an 88-87 lead with just over three minutes remaining. 

Following two minutes without a point, Agee drew a foul and hit two free throws, putting the Falcons ahead 89-88 with just under two minutes remaining. 

After forcing a missed shot by EMU, Spurgin made a layup, extending BG’s lead to three points with 1:11 remaining, forcing the Eagles to call a timeout. 

With 44 seconds remaining, Acuff drew a foul, hitting both free throws to cut BGSU’s lead to 91-90. 

With 14 seconds remaining, Spurgin missed a three-pointer with Eastern Michigan’s freshman guard Arne Osojnik grabbing the rebound. However, Osojnik was called for a costly travel with 10 seconds remaining. 

Humphrey was fouled off the inbound, splitting a pair at the line to extend BG’s lead to 92-90 with 9.7 seconds remaining. 

On Eastern Michigan’s final possession of the contest, Hill blocked Acuff’s shot to seal the victory for the Orange and Brown. 

REVIEW OF THE GAME 

The game was a classic shootout.  

The Falcons shot 46.2% (30-65) from the field, 29.6% (8-27) on three-pointers and 63.2% (24-38) on free throws, while the Eagles shot 50% (38-76) from the field, 29.4% (5-17) from beyond the arc and 64.3% (9-14) from the charity stripe.  

Three-point shooting was key in BG’s comeback.  

Although they shot just 2-13 on three-pointers in the first half, the Falcons shot 6-12 from beyond the arc in the second half. On the flip side, the Orange and Brown held EMU to 0-7 shooting from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes of regulation.  

Although Eastern Michigan won the rebounding battle 43-41, the Eagles committed 29 personal fouls compared to BG’s 16. Three EMU players fouled out of the contest.  

While both teams shot well from the field, the game was a battle of the Mid-American Conference’s (MAC) two leading scorers.  

On Eastern Michigan’s side, Acuff entered the game leading the MAC with 23 points per game. He tied his season-high with 31 points, shooting 13-29 from the field, 1-8 on three-pointers and 4-5 on free throws.  

On Bowling Green’s side, Hill entered the matchup second in the MAC with 19.3 points per game. He scored a season-high 35 points, shooting 10-22 from the field, 2-6 from beyond the arc and 13-17 from the charity stripe.  

Agee recorded his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Agee has now recorded four double-doubles in the past five games.  

Humphrey and Thomas rounded out BGSU’s double-digit scoring, tallying 12 and 10 points, respectively. 

NEXT UP 

The Orange and Brown will head on the road for the first time since Dec. 2, traveling to Akron, Ohio to battle the Akron Zips on Jan. 5. Tip-off from James A. Rhodes Arena is set for 9 p.m.