After two back-to-back losses vs Davidson and William & Mary, BGSU men’s basketball (4-2) returned to its winning ways with a 71-66 win over Bucknell (2-5) in the first game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off. 

Bowling Green played strongly throughout the entire game, including a 19-1 run during the first half, concluding the first with a comfortable 35-24 lead. 

BGSU senior guard Javon Ruffin, who made his first start of the regular season against Bucknell, replacing Josiah Shackelford in the starting lineup, had a big first half, scoring 12 points and shooting 4/5 from three.  

The Bison opened the second half with a 9-0 run, cutting the Orange and Brown lead to 35-28, then adding more points after the first media timeout to get the score within four points, 37-33. 

Bowling Green kept the lead for the entire second half, with Bucknell pushing and pushing, trying to get one over on the Falcons. The Bison were not able to get the lead once during the second half, with guard Javontae Campbell sealing a win for the Orange and Brown with a steal and a dunk in the final minute.  

Senior forward Sam Towns led the Falcons in the win, scoring 15 points and grabbing four rebounds, along with shooting a perfect 8/8 from the charity stripe. Campbell added 14 points of his own, along with snatching away six steals, increasing his season total to 28 total steals. 

Ruffin finished his afternoon with 15 points and senior guard Justin Thomas continued his quietly efficient season with nine points, seven rebounds, three steals, and a blocked shot. 

For the Bison, freshman forward Amon Dörries led all scorers with 22 points, while guard Achile Spadone added 16 points for Bethany as well in the loss. 

After only making eight 3-point shots in the past two contests, BG shot 11/23 from beyond the arc vs the Bison. 

Bowling Green improves to 4-2 on the year and will face off against VMI on Nov. 26, as they remain in Florida for the Fort Myers Tip-Off.