BGSU men’s basketball will have their second consecutive home game of the young season on Monday evening, hosting a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) team, the Taylor Trojans. 

The Orange and Brown will be looking to get in the win column on Monday after starting off the season with two close losses to non-conference, Southern Miss and Davidson. BG is also hoping to avoid their first 0-3 start since the 2016-2017 campaign.

Matchup History 

The Falcons and the Trojans have never faced each other before, so Monday night marks the beginning of the matchup history. 

A win would mark the 265th different program Bowling Green has defeated.

Scouting Bowling Green

Bowling Green lost their season opener against Southern Miss 77-68. The Orange and Brown then narrowly lost 91-85 at the Stroh Center against Davidson on Friday. 

The Falcons will try to ignore these close losses and instead build off their non-conference success last season when they were 10-6 playing teams outside of the Mid-American Conference.  

Bowling Green has yet to play an NAIA school this season, but they went 2-0 against non-D1 opponents last year, including a 79-58 pummeling of NAIA school Siena Heights. 

Scouting Taylor

Taylor University is a Christian-affiliated university in the small town of Upland, Indiana. The school has just over 2,100 undergraduate students, placing it in the NAIA for its athletic programs. 

The Trojans play in the Crossroads League in the NAIA, a league of similar geographical makeup to the Mid-American Conference. They finished in eighth place out of 10 teams last season, with a 5-13 conference record and an 11-18 overall record.  

However, Taylor is off to a much better start this season. They started the year on a four-game winning streak before dropping their first game of the year to IU Kokomo on Friday.

Falcon Four Players to Watch 

Javontae Campbell (Bowling Green #2) 

Cambell, a junior shooting guard, has been on an absolute tear on both sides of the ball so far this season. He is averaging a team-high 22.0 points per game, 65.2% field goal percentage and eight steals.  

The Northern Oklahoma transfer has seamlessly transitioned into Division I ball, scoring 14 points in the season opener and a team-high 30 in the close contest against Davidson.

Sam Towns (Bowling Green #14) 

Towns, a fifth-year senior forward, has been the prime defensive presence for the orange and brown so far this season.  

The 6-foot-9-inch big man has five blocks in two games and will seek to wreak havoc on Taylor’s small backcourt in the paint.

He is also the lead rebounding force for the Falcons, leading the team with 10.5 rebounds per game. 

Kaden Fuhrmann (Taylor #15) 

Like the Falcons, Taylor’s leading scorer, senior Kaden Fuhrmann, is also their shooting guard. Fuhrmann leads Taylor with 12.2 points per game and is second on the team with 11 three-pointers. 

Fuhrmann has started the season off by playing a platoon role at shooting guard with Izaiah Day. However, expect Fuhrmann to get most of the minutes Monday against Bowling Green since he is the top offensive threat for the Trojans.  

Kobe Funderburk (Taylor #4) 

Despite being the sixth man for Taylor, senior guard Kobe Funderburk may be the key to helping the Trojans keep it close or pull off an incredible upset against Bowling Green.

Funderburk has not started a game yet this year but has the second-highest points per game on the team with 11.6 and shoots 91.7% from the free throw line.  

Additionally, Funderburk has been a sharpshooter from beyond the arc for Taylor this season. Off the bench, he is shooting 46.7% on three-pointers, with a team-high 13 made on the year.