Bowling Green State University 6-foot-9 forward Sam Towns came off the bench to score eight points in the win over Arkansas State. (Lauren Laudato/BGSU Athletics)
The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team advanced to 2-0 on the season, and at home, with an 81-75 victory over Arkansas State Saturday in the Stroh Center to give BGSU their first Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Challenge win.
Bowling Green continued a strong start to the season from the field, concluding with a 50% mark shooting. The Falcons were able to maintain ball control with just six turnovers.
With the win, BGSU is now 2-0 to start back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1983-84 and 1984-85.
On the court, Marcus Hill led the way with 26 points and four assists, both topping the stat sheets while shooting 52.9% from the field and adding five rebounds to his stat line. It is the second straight game Hill has led the Falcons in scoring.
Of Hill’s 26 points, eight came at the free throw line. Hill was 8-for-10 at the line, becoming the first Falcon this season to attempt 10-plus free throws and the first since Samari Curtis had 10 against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 23, 2023.
DaJion Humphrey followed closely with 22 points, four rebounds and two steals while shooting 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the field. Humphrey shot 8-for-11 from the field, while going 4-for-6 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
Hill and Humphrey are the first Falcon teammates to both score 20-plus points in a game this season. The last time BGSU had two 20-point scorers was on Feb. 4, 2023 against Northern Illinois.
Rashaun Agee had nine points, six rebounds, and a steal, and Jason Spurgin had nine points, three blocks, two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Off the bench, Sam Towns finished with eight points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line, while leading the team with seven rebounds and also had one steal.
Arkansas State began the game with the first two points, but the Falcons answered with a 9-0 run to take a 9-2 advantage at the first media timeout.
The Falcons hit back-to-back threes soon after the timeout with Jason Spurgin and Humphrey hitting from deep to make it a 15-3 lead, and 15-1 run, and force an Arkansas State timeout.
The Falcons were able to maintain their double-digit advantage into the next media timeout with a 22-12 lead and again at the following media timeout, 28-16.
The Red Wolves trimmed the lead with a 9-0 run, cutting the Bowling Green lead down to 30-27 at the final media timeout of the first half.
The run continued through the media timeout, stretching to 13-0 to push Arkansas State in front 31-30 and force a BGSU timeout.
Back-to-back layups by Hill out of the timeout closed out the first half and pushed the Falcons in front 34-31 at the halftime buzzer.
A 5-0 burst early in the second half swung the score back to Arkansas State at 37-36, but the Falcons responded with back-to-back buckets to reclaim the lead at 40-37, taking a 42-41 lead into the first media timeout of the half.
A 5-0 run, this time in favor of the Falcons, stretched the Bowling Green lead to 47-41, but the Red Wolves narrowed it down to 49-48 with a 7-2 stretch before the under-12 media timeout.
Arkansas State managed to tie the game at 51-51, and even take a 53-52 lead, but an 8-0 run for Bowling Green, sparked by a D.J. Smith inbound steal and layup, moved the Falcons ahead 60-53 with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation.
BGSU added two more points after the timeout to stretch the run to 10-0 and the lead to 62-53. Arkansas State worked to trim the lead with a 6-0 run before the final media timeout of regulation with BGSU in front 72-66. A three-pointer after the break made it a 9-0 stretch to cut the lead to 72-69.
The Falcons logged back-to-back layups from Hill to push the lead back to seven at 76-69. The Red Wolves answered once more, using a 6-1 stretch to trim the lead down to 77-75 with 19 seconds left.
The Falcons closed out the game with two free throws from both Humphrey and Towns to push their advantage to six and secure the 81-75 final and win.
The Falcons are now 2-0 to start consecutive seasons for the first time since 1983-84 and 1984-85. Coach Simon is now the seventh coach in program history to begin his tenure with the Falcons 2-0. BGSU is now 2-0 at home for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign.
The win marks the first for Bowling Green in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge and swings the all-time series against Arkansas State in favor of the Falcons at 3-2.
The Falcons will take to the road for the first time this season for their next contest, traveling north to face the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The game is set for a 7 p.m. tip on Tuesday. The next home game for BGSU will be on Friday at 7 p.m. against Bellarmine.
