After a triumphant Battle of I-75 victory against Toledo on Friday, the Bowling Green men’s basketball team (17-11, 8-7 MAC) fell to the Miami (OH) RedHawks (14-14, 8-7 MAC) on Tuesday night at the Stroh Center, 66-58.  

Bowling Green started things with a quick three-pointer from senior center Jason Spurgin, putting the Falcons ahead 3-0.   

The Falcons forced the RedHawks to use their first 30-second timeout just under three minutes into the game.   

 Miami did not stay quiet for long, scoring eight straight points. Junior guard Bradley Dean drained two three-pointers in a row to put the RedHawks up 8-7.   

After a technical foul was called against Dean for taunting directed at the Falcons bench, BG got a quick four-point swing via two free throws from senior guard Trey Thomas and a viscous dunk from senior guard Rashaun Agee.   

A three-pointer by Miami fifth-year wing Darweshi Hunter gave the RedHawks just their second lead of the game, 20-19.  

However, BG quickly retook the lead with five straight points, including a Thomas three-pointer.  

Bowling Green led almost the entire first half, entering the locker rooms at halftime with a 28-25 lead.  

Despite having the lead at the half, Bowling Green was in the middle of a poor shooting performance. BG shot just 26.3% (10-38) from the field and 22.2% (2-9) on three-pointers in the first 20 minutes of the contest.  

The beginning of the second half was rough on both sides, as they went scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half. 

The RedHawks finally got separation from the Falcons with two straight three-pointers from senior center Anderson Mirambeaux, forcing a Bowling Green timeout and capping a 10-0 scoring run for Miami.  

After the timeout, Mirambeaux scored his eighth straight point off a layup. A free throw by freshman wing Eian Elmer and a Dean layup pushed the RedHawks run to 15-0, during which they held Bowling Green scoreless for nearly four minutes.  

Agee recorded back-to-back layups, attempting to jumpstart the Falcons back into the game; however, the RedHawks stayed a step ahead at every turn, with another Hunter three-pointer keeping Miami in front.    

With just over a minute left to play, Bowling Green senior guard DaJion Humphrey hit a three from the top of the arc to get the Orange and Brown within two points, trailing 60-58. Unfortunately, the Falcons were unable to make up the difference, falling to the RedHawks by eight points.  

 Agee recorded his third straight and 14th overall double-double, finishing with 20 points and 14 rebounds.  

Meanwhile, for the first time since November 17 against Bellarmine, junior guard Marcus Hill did not reach double-digit points, finishing with eight on 4-15 shooting from the field. 

Although they outrebounded Miami 44-36, Bowling Green shot just 32.4% (23-71) from the field, their third-worst shooting performance this season. 

“We have to be able to put the ball in the hole; that’s the bottom line. We had tremendous scoring opportunities, and we didn’t score it,” BGSU head coach Todd Simon said. “You can’t go through a game that way, to lead as long as we did to have those droughts, and they get hot a little bit. You put so much pressure on your defense when you’re not able to score.”  

Bowling Green has now lost four of their last five and seven of their last 10 games. Next up, Bowling Green faces the Ohio Bobcats (16-12, 10-5 MAC) at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio, on Friday, March 1, with tip-off set for 6 p.m.