Davidson, NC — BGSU men’s basketball (3-1) lost to the Davidson Wildcats (4-0) in a Saturday evening matchup after a late second-half 25-13-point run left the Falcons short, as they fell 91-87.
“The character of this group is what shined, they are never gonna give up. We felt like we have got the right guys and are going to play the full 40 minutes no matter what,” head coach Todd Simon said.
The Wildcats started the game out quickly, taking a 6-2-point lead.
Nick Coval scored the next seven points for Davidson, as they extended the lead to six, 17-11.
The Falcons made a strong push to get themselves back into the game, going on an 8-0-point run to make the score 28-25.
The Falcons take their only lead of the game with a Campbell layup to make it 34-33.
After the Orange and Brown took their first lead of the game, Davidson rattled off a 12-6-point run, capped off by a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Sam Brown.
At halftime, the Falcons trailed the Wildcats 45-38, behind 12 points from Campbell and 10 from Shackelford. On the Wildcats’ side, they have four different players who have made a three-point shot and are shooting a combined 50% from three after one half.
Davidson comes out of the halftime break on a mission, going on a 10-3-point run to make the lead 52-40.
The initial run by Davidson turned into a massive one, growing to a 20-8-point run to make the score 65-45.
The Falcons made a small seven-point run to get the lead to a 14-point deficit, with the score at 67-53.
The Falcons utilized their full-court press to get some late steals and pull the game within three after a Shackelford layup, making it 86-83, and a Javon Ruffin layup brought the Falcons within one, 86-85.
The Falcons ended the game on a 25-13 point run, but unfortunately came up just a bit short in Davidson as the Wildcats won 91-87.
“It felt like we could win, every second of the game, we think we can win. We came together and just kept fighting,” Shackelford said.
BGSU is still searching for consistency early in the season.
“Just playing and making sure we get full 40 minutes, not just 10 or the last 10 or the first 10, just make sure we put together a full 40 minutes,” Sam Towns said.
The Wildcats had an excellent game from behind the arc, where they do a majority of their work, as the team shot a combined 47.8%.
Junior guard Brown led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 points on 4-8 from behind the arc. He was followed closely by Coval with 17 points.
Shackelford led the Orange and Brown in scoring with 23 on 8-13 from the field. Justin Thomas led the Falcons in steals with four, assists with six and was tied for the most rebounds as three players had six.
The Falcons are back in action on Wednesday against Williams & Mary, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. Falcon Media Sports Networks’ Noah Seeley and Dawson Pelter will have the live radio broadcast on Falcon Radio, streaming on bgfalconmedia.com.
