The BGSU Men’s Basketball Team fell in Game 1 of the Battle of I-75 to the Toledo Rockets with a score of 91-78. The two halves of play were very different for BGSU’s offense. The Falcons entered in short-handed, with players such as Kaden Matheny and Joe Reese sidelined for the game. The Falcons, who came in at 1-4 in MAC play, struggled to overcome an early 12-point deficit to the Rockets. But behind 21 first half points by Trey Diggs, who went 7/8 from distance in the first half, the Falcons were able to make it a game at halftime with a score 48-47.

Disaster struck again in the second half as Toledo came out of the locker room firing, opening yet another massive lead that the Falcons would never recover from. As BGSU pushed to a more aggressive, in-the-paint approach over their rivals, the Rockets froze Trey Diggs and the Falcons’ offense from 3 as the team shot 1-13 (7.69%) from 3, and 35% from the field in general.

Toledo, meanwhile, shot well all night, ending the day shooting at 54.7% from the field, and going a combined 10-23 from distance. The Rockets were led by JT Shumate who, in 32 minutes, posted 29 points and 9 rebounds. Ryan Rollins led as well, and had an efficient 16 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. Even with the Falcons having a better height advantage, the Rockets outmuscled the Falcons and continued to push the entire game.

BGSU has a chance to even the regular season series against Toledo when they travel up I-75 to Savage Arena on March 4.