In a battle of the birds, BGSU men’s basketball (6-9, 1-2) was defeated by the Ball State Cardinals (8-7, 2-1) in a Saturday afternoon matchup, 91-69.
With this loss, the Falcons fall to 6-9 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.
First Half
After some back-and-forth scoring to open the game, Ball State would go on an 18-5 run, led by senior center Payton Sparks and junior guard Juanse Gorosito with four points apiece, making the score 26-12.
After that run by Ball State, the Falcons would play them almost even for the rest of the first half, with senior forward Marcus Johnson leading Bowling Green with four points in the final five minutes of the first quarter.
In the first half, the Falcons did a lot to slow themselves down, with 10 turnovers and 12 fouls as a team.
Ball State would end the first quarter leading Bowling Green 42-26.
Second Half
Coming out of the halftime break, the Falcons would start to claw their way back into the game slowly.
Johnson opened the scoring for Bowling Green with his first three of the game.
As the Falcons continued to fight their way back into the game, they were able to make it a seven-point game, 60-67, with five minutes remaining.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as Bowling Green would get. After that, Ball State would go on a quick 15-2 run to put the game out of reach for the Falcons, and the Cardinals would win the game 91-69.
Junior guard Javontae Campbell did a lot of work for the Falcons in the second half, as he tallied eight points and two steals. He would end the game as Bowling Green’s scoring leader with 13 points.
One positive to take away from this game is that the Falcons were able to corral 12 offensive rebounds as a team.
Bowling Green as a team struggled from the free throw line against the Cardinals as they went 11-21 from the charity stripe.
In the final minutes of the contest, BGSU head coach Todd Simon picked up his second technical foul and was ejected from the game for the first time since arriving to Bowling Green last season.
The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 14, as they return to the Stroh Center against the Buffalo Bulls. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Tyler Kavalecz and Artie Abrego will have the call on Falcon Radio.
