BGSU men’s basketball (6-3) fell short against Utah Valley (6-3), 82-71, Saturday afternoon at the Stroh Center, ending their three-game winning streak.
The Orange and Brown came into the matchup after a Power 4 victory against Kansas State earlier in the week. Utah Valley had lost its last game, a road game against San Diego State. The Wolverines had not yet won a road game this season before their victory over BGSU.
The first five minutes between the Falcons and Wolverines were a back-and-forth battle with BGSU leading 10-9, which would be their last lead of the game.
Redshirt sophomore guard Jackson Holcombe tallied up 19 points for the Wolverines, including nine in the first 10 minutes. Holcombe’s initial scoring helped Utah Valley’s continuous lead begin at 19-13.
“Holcombe is just a spectacular player and probably the leader to be conference player of the year in their league, and he was all of that today,” head coach Todd Simon said.
The Wolverines kept the lead throughout the rest of the first half, with the Orange and Brown keeping the game within 10 points. The Falcons kept the game close through senior guard Javontae Campbell’s 24-point performance.
Campbell scored seven straight for the Falcons before the end of the half, including a layup, steal, and score, then knocked down a 3-pointer.
Utah Valley began to find its stride in the second half, quickly pushing its lead into double digits.
Holcombe was one of four Wolverines to get double digits in the game. Sophomore forward Isaac Davis finished the game with 18 points, having multiple put-back layups and fast-break points.
On the other side of the court, the Falcons fell into a rough stretch shooting-wise from the three-point line. The team would finish the game 4-24 from beyond the arc, with three of those coming in their late-game run.
“I feel like they were good defensively, but we still had some open shots. If we knocked those down, I feel like we would be good,” Campbell said.
The Wolverines had their largest lead of the game at 26 points with five minutes left in the game, before the Falcons went on a quick 25-10 run to end the game.
“It’s just about not giving up. This group has done that a bunch of times at this point; it’s showing our character. At the same time, you just can’t put yourself in that hole where we need to be trying to come back with three minutes left,” senior forward Sam Towns said.
The Falcons look to use the final five minutes of the game as motivation for tomorrow, as they pick action back up immediately with a matchup against Aquinas College on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 4:00 p.m.
“Yeah, it can’t look like this tomorrow. We’ve got to step up and make shots tomorrow,” Simon said, “I would suspect that we’ll be better tomorrow and have a good response.”
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Artie Abrego and Andrew Helkowski will have the call on Falcon Radio with pregame starting at 3:35 p.m.
