BGSU men’s basketball (4-7) fell to St. Thomas (10-4) at the Stroh Center 93-68 on Saturday afternoon.
The loss marks the second straight for the Falcons after falling to Kansas City last Saturday. It was also one of the worst losses in the Todd Simon era for Bowling Green, just trailing their 26-point defeat to Louisiana last season.
First Half
Both teams struggled in the first few minutes, missing each of their first three shots from the field.
After jumping out to a 7-2 lead at the first media timeout, St. Thomas started to dominate, going on a 9-0 run to extend their early lead to 16-3.
Although BGSU cut the deficit to eight points, 20-12, the Tommies held Bowling Green scoreless for over four minutes and went on a 7-0 run, extending their lead to 27-12 with six minutes remaining in the half.
St. Thomas continued to control the game, going on a 1-0 run to push their lead to 46-18 with 30 seconds left. The Tommies entered the locker room at halftime, leading the Orange and Brown by 26 points, 46-20.
St. Thomas dominated every facet of the first half.
The Tommies shot 48.6% (18-37) from the field, 31.3% (5-16) on three-pointers and 83.3% (5-6) on free throws. Meanwhile, the
Falcons struggled mightily, shooting just 25.8% (8-31) from the field, 10% (1-10) from beyond the arc and 75% (3-4) from the charity stripe.
The frustration for Bowling Green reached a boiling point toward the end of the half when Simon picked up a technical foul.
Second Half
Bowling Green started the second half with a greater sense of urgency. After some back-and-forth action out of the locker rooms, BGSU went on a 7-0 run to cut the Tommie’s lead to 20 points, 51-31.
St. Thomas immediately responded with a 10-0 run, extending their lead to 30, 61-31.
One of the worst moments for Bowling Green came towards the middle of the half when sophomore guard Braelon Green went down in pain with a knee injury while attempting to grab a rebound and had to be helped back to the locker room.
St. Thomas continued to control for the remainder of the contest, ultimately winning by 25 points, 93-68.
Recap of the Game
St. Thomas shot the lights out, shooting 51.6% (32-62) from the field, 36.7% (11-30) on three-pointers and 81.8% (18-22) on free throws.
However, Bowling Green struggled all game, shooting just 37.3% (22-59) from the field and 27.3% (6-22) from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Javontae Campbell led BGSU with 18 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Meanwhile, St. Thomas junior guard Miles Barnstable led all scorers with 23 points.
BGSU senior forward Marcus Johnson finished with 16 points and led all players with four three-pointers, while senior guard Derrick Butler finished with 15 points and reached the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career with a three-pointer in the second half.
Next Up
Next, the Falcons will wrap up non-conference play against Aquinas College at the Stroh Center at 3 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 23.
