The BGSU men’s basketball (6-3) played host to the Aquinas Saint Bernards (3-6) in a Saturday afternoon matchup in the Stroh Center that the Falcons won 131-50.
In a quick turnaround game, the Falcons played Utah Valley on Saturday, and they used their bench to their advantage.
As a team, the Falcons’ bench scored 79 points. In the season, the Orange and Brown are ranked 104th by the NCAA in bench scoring per game at 28.88 points per game.
Three of their four double-digit scorers came off the bench. Aiden Goins added 24, Mayar Wol with 15, and Jason Kimbrough Jr. with 11.
Goins was able to get the Falcons going, leading the entire game in scoring and only missing two shots.
“It’s huge for us, we know what Goins can do, what he’s capable of, so we trust in him and believe in him,” Wol said.
“They saw his aggressiveness and had an advantage there, and the guys just kept feeding him, and that doesn’t happen everywhere,” head coach Todd Simon said.
The bench for Bowling Green played a huge role in the win, with almost no level drop between the starters and bench.
“It’s huge to have a deep bench that doesn’t fall off when the starters come out of the game. That’s a major key to our team, for sure,” Wol said.
It’s not just about having a deep bench ready to go at any given moment, but also about being able to get the young talent on the roster extra in-game reps.
“These games are really important for developing our roster, especially in the modern era, with our non-conference schedule,” coach Simon stated. “We played an MTE [Multi-Team Event], four top 100 net teams, and so some of those games, as they come down to the wire, you’re kind of sticking to a tighter rotation.”
Going deep into the bench, especially in a back-to-back game, allowed the starters to get much-needed rest, with none of the starters getting more than 25 minutes of playing time.
Bouncing back with a much-needed dominant win, the Falcons now turn their attention to the next opponents with Mid-American Conference play looming.
The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. as the Chicago State Cougars come to town. Falcon Media Sports Networks, Foster Roesti and Sam Bork will have the live radio broadcast with pregame coverage set to start at 6:30 p.m.
