The Bowling Green men’s basketball team (11-4, 2-1 MAC) had quite the week to ring in the new year.
After starting the year 2-1 in conference play, the Falcons are off to their best start through 15 games since the 2014-2015 season and currently sit in fourth place in the MAC standings, although they are tied with Akron for the best overall record.
The Falcons rang in 2024 with a thrilling 92-90 overtime win against Eastern Michigan (8-7, 1-2 MAC) in their first conference game of the season on Dec. 2, extending their winning streak to eight games, moving into a tie for the eight-longest active winning streak in the country.
The contest was highlighted by the MAC’s two leading scorers, EMU’s Tyson Acuff and BG’s Marcus Hill, facing off against each other. The matchup did not disappoint.
Acuff scored a season-high 31 points in 43 minutes, shooting 13-29 from the field, 1-8 on three-pointers and 4-5 on free throws. On the opposite side, Hill scored a season-high 35 points in 42 minutes, shooting 10-22 from the field, 2-6 from beyond the arc and 13-17 from the charity stripe.
After the thrilling victory against the Eagles, BG travelled to Akron for a matchup against the Zips (11-4, 3-0 MAC), the preseason favorites to win the MAC.
After holding a five-point halftime lead over Akron, the Zips dominated the second half, defeating the Falcons 83-67 and ending BG’s eight-game winning streak on Friday night.
The Falcons shot a blistering 63% (17-27) from the field and 45.5% (5-11) in the first half. However, BG struggled mightily in the second half, shooting just 25% (7-28) from the field and 8.3% (1-12) from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes of the contest.
After leading Akron 41-36 going into halftime, the Zips outscored the Falcons 47-26 in the second half.
However, the Orange and Brown flew back into the win column on Tuesday night with an electric 83-78 victory over the Ohio Bobcats (7-8, 1-2 MAC) at the Stroh Center.
The contest was a classic MAC shootout.
Ohio shot 49.1% (28-57) from the field and 40% (10-25) on three-pointers, while Bowling Green shot 49.2% (31-63) from the field and 50% (12-24) from beyond the arc.
“That’s a very, very good Ohio team that was picked towards the top of the [MAC], and those are the type of games that we’ve got to win at home,” Bowling Green head coach Todd Simon said. “We liked 60% of the game on Friday, and we wanted to kind of put a better performance today, and we held the lead for over 35 minutes, which I was proud of the guys.”
The Falcons set new season-highs with 12 three-pointers and 20 assists.
“It just shows that as a team, no matter who has it, we are all cutting and looking to get open; we’re not a one-man team,” senior forward Rashaun Agee said. “It shows that everybody can score, and everybody can move without the ball.”
All five BG starters scored double-digit points for the second time this season, a feat that has not been accomplished since the 2018-2019 campaign.
Senior guard Trey Thomas led the Falcons with 20 points against the Bobcats, draining three triples and making a career-high eight field goals.
Thomas has now scored double-digit points in five straight games and six of the last seven contests.
After starting the season injured, Thomas is nearing full strength, greatly benefitting the Falcons.
“I think Trey’s still kind of getting there; he’s still working his way back,” Simon said. “He’s kind of just an ice water in his veins type of guy. You think every time he shoots it, it’s going to go in. He makes great decisions, he takes care of the ball, he’s a fantastic player.”
Agee continues to be a force for Bowling Green.
After recording a double-double against EMU and scoring 12 points in just 15 minutes due to foul trouble against Akron, the Chicago, Illinois, native responded with his best game of the season against the Bobcats.
Agee tallied his fifth double-double of the season, tallying 12 points and finishing with a career-high and team-leading 15 rebounds and six assists. He also drained his first three-pointer of the season to throw a cherry on top.
“He’s such a special talent, and we’re so much better when he’s on the floor. If we do it over again, we’d probably let him go a little longer and do some things differently,” Simon said. “We changed some strategies here to make sure he’s not going to get into foul trouble, and he did a good job passing on a few things… He’s an absolutely special player right now.”
Senior center Jason Spurgin is another player who has put together three straight quality performances.
Against EMU, Spurgin tallied seven points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Then, Spurgin finished with 14 points and a team-high four assists against the Zips.
However, Spurgin left his fingerprints all over the victory against the Bobcats, tallying 14 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and draining a season-high four three-pointers on five attempts from beyond the arc. He has now hit a three-pointer in 12 consecutive games.
Of his four three-pointers, Spurgin hit three of them in the final six minutes of the contest, with two of them in the final two-and-a-half minutes.
The Toowoomba, Australia, native also tied his season-high with four assists and accounted for both of BG’s blocks.
“He’s really just a seven-foot, 255-pound guard; it’s really what he is. He’s cerebral, he’s smart, he sees the floor and we’re trying to get him to be more aggressive,” Simon said. “If you’re 4-5, I blame myself; he should be 8-10, you need to get more shots. He just makes the right plays.”
Although neither matched his season-high 35 points against Eastern Michigan, Hill put together two solid performances against the Zips and Bobcats.
The junior guard led BG in scoring against Akron with 19 points, shooting 7-17 from the field, 1-5 from beyond the arc and 4-8 from the charity stripe.
Against Ohio, Hill recorded his 11th consecutive double-digit scoring performance, finishing with 15 points and adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Senior guard Da’Shawn Phillip rounded out BG’s double-digit scorers against Ohio, finishing with a season-high 10 points. Phillip is the 10th different Falcon to score double-digit points in a game this season.
Recently, the Falcons have been forced to overcome an injury bug that has struck the team.
Redshirt freshman forward Jamai Felt has not appeared in a game this season, senior forward Sam Towns has not played since Dec. 2 and sophomore guard Anthony McComb III has not played since Dec. 22.
BG has been forced to use seven different starting lineups in the first 15 games of the season.
However, the Falcons have battled through all the adversity thrown their way and are improving as a unit every time they step onto the court.
“It takes a little time; you’re starting to see some continuity. We’ve had seven different lineups already this year and a lot of guys in and out or half-speed. The hard thing with injuries is you also lose your conditioning,” Simon said. “Like Trey Thomas, you don’t just show back up, suit up for the game and go after a month or two months out, or whatever it was. So, you’re kind of starting to see guys get their wind a little bit.”
One key factor for BG’s success so far this season has been their home-court advantage.
With the win over Ohio, the Orange and Brown moved to 8-1 at the Stroh Center this season, the best home record through nine games since the 2019-2020 campaign.
“Protect home court, that’s about as far as you can get right there. Every time you step into your home arena, you should want to protect home court. You don’t want anybody coming into your home and just take stuff from you,” Agee said. “I’m not going to let anybody come into our crib and punk us out of our stuff; this is our crib. This is where we practice every day; we should win every time.”
Against Ohio, there were 578 students in Ziggyville, the student section at the Stroh. The turnout was the largest student attendance for a non-Toledo game in over a year.
“The pressure of the intensity from the student section and the crowd, in general, adds to the game, adds to our defense, it adds pressure to the other team, and all of a sudden, every shot gets a little tighter,” Simon said. “That’s part of what’s going to make this a fantastic home-court advantage.”
Although their shooting was rocky and inconsistent at the start of the season, the Falcons have greatly improved in that aspect. BG’s defense also remains one of the best units in the conference.
On this day a year ago, BG got stuck in the mud and collapsed, falling to Akron, ending a four-game winning streak. That team ultimately collapsed, losing 13 of their final 16 games from Jan. 10 to March 3.
However, this is a different team, program and culture under Simon.
Although their eight-game winning streak ended against Akron on Friday, this team is showing no signs of slowing down.
The Falcons seem to improve every time they step onto the court. The more this team plays together, the higher their ceiling rises.
As it stands today, the Orange and Brown are in total control of their destiny for the rest of the season, and they are on a completely opposite trajectory from the teams Bowling Green fans have watched the past two seasons.
Next up, the Falcons will travel to DeKalb, Illinois, to face off against the Northern Illinois Huskies on Saturday, Jan. 13, before heading to Oxford to battle the Miami RedHawks on Tuesday, Jan. 16. Tip-off against NIU is set for 4 p.m. while the contest against the RedHawks is slated to start at 7 p.m.
For more stories related to BGSU Athletics, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).
