The Bowling Green Falcons (14-17, 8-10) lost to the Western Michigan Broncos (12-19, 9-9) in a Friday night matchup in the Stroh Center 64-63.
While the loss snapped a four-game winning streak and nearly shattered their Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament hopes, they got some help, as Miami (OH) beat Ball State and Northern Illinois beat Central Michigan in double overtime to sneak the Orange and Brown to Cleveland.
“We’ve completely reinvented ourselves, not only just in terms of lineups but different schemes,” BGSU head coach Todd Simon said. “It was this is going work, and everyone did it. So, you gotta give them credit for that.”
Here is how it went:
The Falcons came out swinging as they went on a five-point run to start the game behind senior forward Marcus Johnson and senior guard DaJion Humphrey.
The Broncos matched the Falcon’s run with one of their own as graduate guard Donovan Williams scored four unanswered points.
Western Michigan’s senior forward Owen Lobsinger came off the bench and provided a spark as he went 3-3 from three-point range.
As he normally does, Derrick Butler provided a scoring punch for the Falcons as he led the team with 10 points in the first half.
Both teams made tough buckets as the first half drew to an end, with neither team grasping a large lead. The Broncos took the advantage going into halftime 33-32 over the Falcons.
Western Michigan started the second half of basketball strong as they went on a 13-4 run led by redshirt junior guard/forward Markhi Strickland‘s six points.
The Falcons did not quit as they fell behind, with timely buckets from Humphrey and Butler bringing the team to within one point of the Broncos.
“Adversity is something our team has been going throughout the season, so we just focus on communicating each possession and just overall keep fighting,” Butler said.
The fight back into the game was not enough, as Western Michigan hit timely free throws at the end of the game to seal it and win the contest 64-63.
While the Orange and Brown were not able to punch their ticket to Cleveland, some help around the conference gave them the final spot in the MAC Tournament.
“We are a family, and just being able to get another chance to showcase our talents and showcase what we want to do for this town, you guys have been behind us all year through the ups and downs,” Humphrey said. “So you can’t help but want to fight and get to where we need to get to.”
As the Falcons gear up for the MAC Tournament, they have nothing to lose.
“It’s an eight-team tournament. Everyone’s zero and zero, who can win three [games] in three days. I’ll bet on my guys,” Simon said.
The Falcons are back in action on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Rocket Arena in Cleveland against Akron, the MAC regular season champions, in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament.
