BGSU men’s basketball is currently struggling, suffering their third straight loss in an extremely tough stretch of games in this Mid-American Conference (MAC) season.
Bowling Green head coach Todd Simon stated that although this loss is hard to take, he thought the fans did a great job supporting the team and always have.
“Our group is easy to get behind because they leave it all on the court, they play hard, they’re good guys,” Simon said.
The Rockets not only beat Bowling Green points-wise but also won in the rebounding department, outrebounding the Falcons 37 to 30.
“We always have an emphasis on crashing the glass,” said Toledo sophomore guard Sonny Wilson.
The Falcons have struggled rebounding for much of the season.
“We don’t have anyone stepping up [for rebounds], our guards have not stepped up, we don’t have [a guard] that’s taken on that responsibility.”
Toledo led the game 9-5 going into the first media timeout, going on a 7-0 run to open the scoring.
The Falcons were hitting their threes early, with senior forward Marcus Johnson hitting his second and the team’s fourth, cutting the score to 16-14.
Another media timeout left the score at 22-16 in favor of Toledo, with the Orange and Brown trying their best to fight back into the game.
Halfway through the first half, Toledo remained in control, but two trips to the line for Felt resulted in two points and a 22-18 Rocket lead.
With about seven minutes left in the half, the Falcons still were trailing Toledo, but had cut the lead to just two points. The score read 25-27.
Senior guard Derrick Butler tied the game up at 29 with a dunk for the Falcons, then helped to force a Rocket timeout on the other end of the floor.
Redshirt freshman Jamai Felt got a slam off a feed from Butler and took the first lead of the game for the Orange and Brown, but it was immediately taken away with a layup. The score was 34-33 heading into the media break.
With a minute left in the half, Toledo went up 41-38. Fifth-year guard Isaiah Adams hit a fadeaway jumper to put the Rockets up by five to end the half at 43-38.
TU Sophomore guard Sam Lewis hit a three to put Toledo up 49-42 at the start of the second half. It was an ugly opening to the half for BGSU.
“Coming out of the locker room has been something we’ve been good at all year,” said Coach Simon, “Those first four we came out [and] we didn’t execute offensively.”
The Falcons went into the next media timeout down by 10, with Felt converting on an and-one attempt after the TO.
Bowling Green continued to be stagnant on offense, but a basket by Johnson paired with the free throw left the Falcons down by seven at 57-50.
Halfway through the half, it did not seem as if either team could get into much of a groove offensively.
Toledo kept their lead, but with eight minutes to go, BG began to build momentum. The Rockets then led 65-58.
The Falcons got Adams to turn the ball over, leading to a Johnson bucket that had to score at 71-64 in Toledo’s favor.
With two minutes left in the game, the Rockets went up 79-68, and the Orange and Brown had no sort of momentum going for them.
Toledo walked away with a huge win, beating the Falcons 84-71 on the road.
For Bowling Green, the legendary Battle of I-75 ended in a tough loss, but win or lose, the players on both teams showed that this rivalry matters more than the other games on the schedule.
“Every man in that locker room wanted to beat Toledo. We talked all week about it,” said Coach Simon.
Marcus Johnson, who had 28 points on the night, stated, “[The rivalry] means a lot. And I see it means a lot to the people of [Bowling Green] and Toledo.
With the loss, the Falcons are now 2-5 in MAC play, while the triumphant Rockets advanced to 5-2 in the conference.
Hopefully, the Falcons will be able to respond to these losses. They will face off against Kent State on Tuesday.
