BGSU men’s basketball (1-0) continues their season-opening homestand against Bethany College (0-0) on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The game is the second leg of Bowling Green’s three home contests to begin their 2025-26 campaign, the longest to start a season since 1998-99.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Foster Roesti and Dawson Pelter will have the call of the game live from the Stroh Center on Falcon Radio, streaming on bgfalconmedia.com. Before tipoff, Holden Ruck, Noah Seeley and Sam Bork will have the pregame show, beginning at 6:35 p.m.
The game will count for Bowling Green’s record, but will be listed as an exhibition for Bethany, a Division III school.
Matchup History
The two teams have never played before.
The game will mark Bowling Green’s 329 different opponents all-time, with the Falcons having defeated 268 unique opponents in program history.
Scouting Bowling Green
Last year, Bowling Green finished with a 14-18 overall and an 8-10 conference record, sneaking into the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament as the final seed.
The Falcons began their season with a win on Monday, defeating Texas State 83-48 in the first round of the third annual Mid-American Conference (MAC)-Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Challenge.
The Falcons have 10 new players on the roster for the third straight season. Every new player and all but three of the 17 players on the roster—Jaxon Pardon, Preston Squire and Greg Spurgin—played in the victory.
BG previously dropped their two preseason exhibitions, falling 75-66 to No. 22 Michigan State and 90-59 to Dayton.
Bowling Green shot lights out against the Bobcats, making 53.4% (31-58) of their shots from the field and 45.5% (10-22) of their 3-point attempts.
The Falcons’ bench also came up huge, scoring 40 of the team’s points in the win.
BGSU’s defense locked down Texas State for all 40 minutes, holding the Bobcats to 38.9% (21-54) shooting from the floor and 17.6% (3-17) from beyond the arc.
BG’s defense was very pressing, forcing 18 turnovers, including 11 steals.
In the second half, Bowling Green held Texas State to just 27.6% (8-29) from the field and 0-for-9 on 3-pointers.
The Falcons also dominated the rebounding battle 37-26, outscoring the Bobcats 40-28 in the paint.
Scouting Bethany
Bethany finished 7-18 overall and 2-18 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) last season, finding themselves last in the conference standings.
The Bison are led by first-year head coach Brandon Thorsen, who previously served as interim head coach in the 2022-23 season.
Even though they struggled last year, Bethany had a high-powered offense, leading the PAC with 81.6 points and 10.3 3-pointers made per game.
Bethany was also good on the glass a year ago, leading their conference with 41.3 total rebounds and 15.6 offensive rebounds per game.
However, the Bison were not efficient on offense, ranking seventh in the PAC with 43.2% shooting from the field and ninth with a 30.4% mark from beyond the arc.
Bethany’s defense was not good last season, as they allowed opponents to score 88.0 points per game and shoot 47.6% from the floor, ranking last in the conference.
The Bison also struggled with turnovers, giving the ball away 17.2 times per contest, the most in the PAC.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Mayar Wol (Bowling Green No. 9)
Wol excelled off the bench in BG’s season-opening win, scoring a team-high 19 points while making all six of his shots from the field, including four 3-pointers.
The 6-foot-8 junior forward was the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Sixth Man of the Year last season at Eastern Kentucky.
Troy Glover II (Bowling Green No. 16)
Glover filled out the box score in his first game with the Falcons, tallying 12 points, four rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist against Texas State.
Glover is a strong defensive players, having earned both Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) and Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Defensive Player of the Year honors.
The 6-foot-10 senior forward is just two points away from 1,000 career collegiate points.
Ryan Reasbeck (Bethany No. 11)
The 6-foot-3 senior guard is Bethany’s leading returning scorer, averaging 14.6 points per game, which ranked 10th in the PAC.
Reasbeck shot 50% from the field and a team-high 38.2% on 3-pointers last year.
Hixson is another key returner for the Bison.
The 6-foot-2 graduate guard averaged 11.3 points per game and drilled a team-high 49 3-pointers in 25 games and 22 starts last season. Hixson also grabbed 75 rebounds last year, the most of any returning player.
