BGSU men’s basketball walked into Savage Arena as heavy underdogs, missing three of their starters, with senior guard Trey Thomas now out for the season after breaking his leg in the loss to Kent State on Tuesday.
Despite all the noise, both literally from the Toledo fans and figuratively from all the doubters who said they were too hurt, Bowling Green stepped up in a big way and took a huge win against a strong Toledo team.
“This is what college basketball should be about,” said Falcon head coach Todd Simon after the win, “Two good rival teams just absolutely playing their hearts out.”
When asked if it was sweeter to beat Toledo in their own house, BG senior guard Derrick Butler said, “Most definitely,” while grinning ear to ear.
Entering this game, the Falcons were 4-9 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, placing them in tenth and just out of the playoffs in Cleveland. To say this game was a must-win is an understatement.
Oppositely, Toledo sat comfortably at 9-4 in conference play before this matchup; the squad was in third place in the MAC. They are still, in all likelihood, MAC tournament-bound, so it may not be the last time these two face off.
Here’s how things went down:
First Half
Derrick Butler came out the gate playing aggressively, scoring all five of the Falcons points heading into the first media timeout of the game. Toledo led 6-5 going into the break.
Butler and Rocket sophomore guard Sonny Wilson both had seven points through just over eight minutes in the contest, the two were leading their teams in the early going.
BG led 20-12 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half, but Toledo sophomore guard Sam Lewis then drew a foul and got the bucket but was unable to convert the free throw. The Falcons stayed in the lead 22-19.
Due to accurate shooting on both ends, the game remained extremely close, with Bowling Green holding onto a two-point lead, 27-25.
The Rockets were playing the Falcons well on defense, doubling Butler and senior forward Marcus Johnson and forcing the two to turn the ball over.
The Falcons still led the game at 31-29 going into the final media timeout with 3:30 remaining in the half, but they seemed to have become stagnant on offense due to the UT defense.
At the end of the half, BG led 41-37, with Butler leading all scorers with 18 points. Not far behind him in the points column was Lewis, who led the Rockets with 16.
Just play hard and really just try to win,” Butler said about his mindset postgame.
Second Half
The Rockets and Falcons were going back and forth with lead changes in the opening minutes of the second half, with Toledo maintaining a one-point margin of 48-47 with 15:48 left to go.
Bowling Green sophomore forward Wilguens Jr. Exacte was a force on the boards in this one, raking in a game-high six boards still with just under ten minutes left, and he had 12 by the game’s end.
Heading into another media timeout, the Rockets took the lead 56-55 by means of some great defense and a couple of nice 3-pointers.
With seven minutes left in the game and the score knotted at 59 points apiece, the game started to come down to the wire.
The Falcons made some nice plays and got hard-fought buckets to enter the next timeout of the contest with a 65-60 lead, going on a quick 6-1 run.
UT tied things up at 67 with a clutch three from Toledo sophomore guard Bryce Ford, but senior guard DaJion Humphrey took two charges in the final two minutes to stop the Rocket’s momentum.
Lewis missed one of his two free throws with 21 seconds remaining. Coach Simon immediately called timeout after junior guard Javontae Campbell crossed halfcourt.
Campbell hit a tough layup on a third-effort shot to put the Falcons up by one with just 1.6 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Falcons would go on to force a Toledo turnover and take the dub on the road in yet another epic installment of the Battle of I-75.
The Falcons advance to a conference record of 5-9 with their hopes of a playoff berth still alive, while the Rockets fail to launch and fall to 9-5 in MAC play.
Like any great rivalry game, this one came down to the last second.
“I wanted to get a quick shot so that if I did miss, we could get the rebound,” Campbell said about his game-winning shot. “Just a scoring mentality…we have to score to win.”
This year’s Bowling Green team has gone through a lot of hardships this season but has never quit.
“Even though we’ve had a lot of adversities, close losses, injuries, sickness, we come in and practice every day, work hard, no negativity. It’s just overall a great team and great guys,” Butler said. “Basketball rewards teams like that.”
In fact, the adversity has made the team grow tighter together.
“The attitude and the effort have been off the charts. The culture has been off the charts,” Simon said. “It’s good to see the guys rewarded for that.”
It seems as if all the hard work this Bowling Green squad has put in is finally being recognized through their play, but they are not done yet.
Next, the Falcons will be on the road against Eastern Michigan on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Artie Abrego and Foster Roesti will have the call on Falcon Radio, beginning at 6:15 p.m. for pregame.
