The BGSU men’s basketball (6-3, 1-4) hosts the Aquinas Saint Bernards (3-6) in the second game of a back-to-back game at the Stroh Center on Sunday, Dec. 7, with tip-off set for 4 p.m.
Falcon Media Sports Networks’ Artie Abrego and Andrew Helkowski will have the live radio broadcast with tip-off set to start at 4 p.m. Pregame coverage of the matchup will start 30 minutes before the game.
Matchup History
The Falcons have the only win in the history of the meeting, an 87-62 point victory last season at home.
Scouting Aquinas
The Aquinas Saint Bernards were picked to finish eighth in the Wolverines-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) coming into this season. Fresh off their first conference win over Madonna, the Saint Bernards look to keep the momentum going.
Led by Redshirt Sophomore Caden Pokorzynski, leading the team in both scoring with 17.4 points per game and rebounding with 11.7 per game. Pokorzynski will take the three-point shot, but is not the most consistent, with a majority of his points coming in pain. The forward also leads the team with 11 blocks in nine games this season.
Assisting Pokorzynski in the scoring is Redshirt Senior Devon Boyd, who adds 15.9 points per game and is the only other player for Aquinas scoring in double digits. The guard has taken 11 or more shots in all nine of his starts this season and does most of his work getting down into the paint.
Aquinas enters this game with one of the top defenses in the WHAC, holding opponents to 79.6 points per game and a great 32.8% from three-point range. The Saint Bernards will attempt to force the Falcons into bad shots and prevent them from establishing any type of offensive rhythm in the matchup.
Scouting Bowling Green
BGSU enters this game after a tough loss to Utah Valley on Saturday, Dec. 7, one in which they were unable to find their footing from behind the arc, shooting only 16.7%.
Javontae Campbell has led the Falcons in scoring this season with 18.1 points per game, on 50% shooting from the field. Only scoring under 10 points one time this season, the guard looks to get downhill, with 83.9% of his total shots coming from inside the arc. Expect Campbell to do plenty of the same as the Falcons look to bounce back from a tough loss.
Leading the Falcons’ bench unit has been sophomore Josiah Shackelford with 12.3 points. The guard adds a three-point shooting punch that the Falcons have been looking to make consistent off the bench. Getting up an average of four three-point attempts a game, the sophomore can fill up the points column in a hurry.
The Orange and Brown enter this matchup with the best defense in the Mid-American Conference, holding opponents to an average of 67.9 points per game, only behind the undefeated Miami RedHawks.
Falcon Four Players to Watch
Towns had a career high of 27 points against Kansas St., but struggled against Utah Valley, only accumulating eight points. For the Falcons to compete, they need Towns to be the highest-level stat stuffer he can be.
Wol is one of the top three-point shooters on the Falcons roster, shooting 45.7% from behind the arc this season. Expect plenty of threes from the forward, as over half of his total shots this season are from three.
The three-point specialist for Aquinas is getting up 33 shots from three this season and making them at a 42.4% clip. In the last four games, he has gotten up four or more three-pointers in 3 of the games. Watch for the offense to look to him for three-point attempts.
Caden Pokorzynski (Aquinas #23)
As stated already, Pokorzynski is the head of this team, leading them in both scoring and rebounds. The 6–foot–7 forward has not scored under 10 points this season. Look for the team to get him started early down low and continue to go to the forward throughout the game.
