BGSU men’s basketball (1-2) defeated the Taylor Trojans (4-2) Monday night at the Stroh Center, 107-43.
Bowling Green head coach Todd Simon emphasized the importance of BG’s three-point performance.
“Ten different guys made threes; that’s a big emphasis for us, it’s a big part of the game, and if it’s been working like it has been, it’s going to make us really difficult to guard,” said Simon.
The success from three didn’t stop on offense; Bowling Green’s defense managed to hold the Trojans to just 3-31 from three-point range.
“We made a huge emphasis to being disciplined on taking away the arc and make them put it on the ground and use our length at all positions,” said Simon. “It’s something we were pretty proud of, to try to take away their strength and make them do something else, and the guys did a good job of that,” said Simon.
The Falcons frontcourt led the way early on in the first half. Senior forward Marcus Johnson scored six of the Falcon’s first 11 points, and senior forward Sam Towns kept the paint safe by getting a block in the early minutes.
Bowling Greens’ defense swarmed the Trojans early on.
The Falcons started the game on an 18-2 run, trying to get the contest out of reach for Taylor quickly. However, the Trojans didn’t go away quietly as they went on a 7-0 run to keep the game within reach.
Johnson was red hot just ten minutes into the game. He scored 14 points while shooting 100% from the field and was 4-4 from three-point range. At this point of the game, Johnson was tied in scoring with the entire Trojan team.
The Falcons kept scoring runs in the first half, which separated them from the Trojans. The Orange and Brown finished the half on a 21-0 scoring run.
A few highlights from that run were two and-one conversions from three-point range by senior guards Trey Thomas and Derrick Butler. Both players converted the free throws and made it into two four-point plays for Bowling Green.
The first half was controlled comfortably by Bowling Green. They forced the Trojans to turn the ball over nine times, and the Falcons scored 21 points off those turnovers.
The BG defense also held Taylor to 31.3% from the field as well as just 10.3% from three-point range throughout the first 20 minutes of action.
The second half started with the BG defense allowing the offense to thrive. The offense ran through junior guard Javontae Campbell and junior forward Youssef Khayat. Both Khayat and Campbell stole the ball and had some tough finishes at the rim, which sparked the offense early at the beginning of the half.
Bowling Green’s balance of offense and defense was extraordinary against Taylor. With just ten minutes remaining in the game, the Falcons already had a 53-point lead with a score of 84-31.
The Falcons had five players reach double-digits against Taylor—Campbell, Khayat, Johnson, Butler and sophomore guard Braelon Green.
With just under three minutes to play, the Falcons reached 100 points with an emphatic slam from senior guard DaJion Humphrey. Immediately after, freshman guard Jaxon Pardon secured his first career points in a Falcon uniform.
Bowling Green’s next matchup is against the Michigan State Spartans at the Breslin Center on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.
