After a 20-point loss to Louisiana in the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Challenge, Bowling Green men’s basketball traveled to Ypsilanti to face the Eastern Michigan Eagles. For the first time since the 2016-17 season, Bowling Green lost to Eastern Michigan, by a final score of 69-60.

Here’s how it went down:. 

Bowling Green’s Rashaun Agee started by scoring the first points of the night for the Falcons after grabbing BG’s Jason Spurgin’s missed shot and laying it in for two points. BG took the 2-0 lead. 

After multiple missed shots, Eastern Michigan found the bottom of the night, scoring their first points of the night with a layup from Legend Geeter, tying the game at 2-2. Spurgin got the Falcons back on top with a quick two-point shot. 

Eastern Michigan’s leading scorer, Tyson Acuff, gave the Eagles a 5-4 lead after hitting a three-pointer. Right afterwards, BG’s Trey Thomas gave the Falcons a two-point lead, 7-5, hitting a three-point shot of his own. 

Despite playing very contested basketball in the opening minutes of play, Bowling Green began to fall behind the Eagles, with an Acuff jump shot giving the Eagles an 11-point lead, 20-9, with 11 minutes left in the half. 

Bowling Green began their long climb back up the hill in the first half, with Eastern Michigan one step ahead of the Falcons. With 5:23 remaining in the first half, BG’s Da’Shawn Phillip hit a three-pointer, with the score now 27-21 and the Eagles leading. 

Bowling Green went into halftime down to Eastern Michigan 33-24. 

The Falcons began the second half with Agee making one out of two free throws to cut the Eagles lead down to eight. 

However, just like the entire game, just as Bowling Green responded, the Eagles responded right back. The Eagle’s Connor Serven hit a three-pointer, putting Eastern Michigan up by 11. 

Five minutes into the half, BG’s Ejay Greer made a layup, putting the Eagles lead back into single digits. Acuff responded with a layup of his own, putting the Eastern Michigan lead back at 11. 

Later in the second half, Trey Thomas tried to kick-start a comeback for the Falcons.

Thomas began by hitting a three-point shot, making the score 42-34 with the Eagles leading. Seconds later, the Falcons got a turnover and found Thomas once again, this time making a layup, plus the foul and an extra free throw, cutting the Eagles lead to just five points. 

However, Acuff hit another three, snapping the Falcon’s momentum and regaining an eight-point lead for the Eagles. 

This loss snaps Bowling Green’s nine-game winning streak against Eastern Michigan.

Another streak was snuffed out for the Falcons during the game. Marcus Hill finished with 19 points, snapping a nine-game 20-point scoring streak, which was the longest 20-point scoring streak in the nation. 

As a team, BG shot 34.4% from the field and 23.1% from the three-point line. 

Bowling Green’s record falls to 16-9 on the season and 7-5 against the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

The Falcons will look to snap their two-game losing streak as they finish their three-game road trip, taking on Central Michigan on February 20 at 7:00 p.m.