Bowling Green Falcons guard Marcus Hill (0) goes in for a dunk during the first half of a game against Kansas City on Saturday at the Stroh Center. Bowling Green defeated Kansas City 79-69. (Scott W. Grau/Sentinel-Tribune)
The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team extended their win streak to five straight with a 79-69 victory over Kansas City Saturday at the Stroh Center.
It is the longest winning streak since winning five consecutive games during the 2021-22 campaign. Now 7-3 on the season, BGSU is off to their best start through 10 games since the 2020-21 campaign when they began 8-2.
The Falcons carried an 11-point lead into halftime, shooting 50% from the field as a team behind 23 first half points from Marcus Hill.
The Falcons maintained the lead through the second half for the win, holding Kansas City to 39.4% from the field for the game. For the third time this season, the Falcons had a season-low six turnovers.
The Falcons were paced by Hill’s 29 points over 38 minutes of action. Jason Spurgin joined him in the 20-point output with a career-high 20 exactly with both Hill and Spurgin adding five rebounds each.
Rashaun Agee also reached double-digits in the scoring column with 10 while hauling in a team-high and career-high 12 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
The Falcons jumped out to an early lead. Trey Thomas started the scoring with a three before BGSU was ignited by a 5-0 run to push the score to 12-4.
Kansas City worked to narrow the gap with a 5-0 run of their own later in the half to trim the score to 19-17 before drawing within one at 23-22.
Bowling Green rebuilt their advantage with a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 35-24 to force a timeout from the Roos. A three by Jason Spurgin out of the timeout made it a 12-0 run and 38-24 lead.
Another 5-0 burst for the Falcons late in the half pushed their lead to 45-31 before taking a 45-34 score into the halftime locker room.
Of Bowling Green’s 45 first half points, 23 came Marcus Hill to post the first 20-point half by a Falcon this season.
The two teams traded buckets to start the second half to carry a 53-40 lead into the first media timeout of the half. Out of the timeout, Kansas City utilized a 4-0 burst to make it a 6-0 run spanning the timeout, trimming the score to 53-44.
Another run for the Roos, this time a 5-0 stretch, cut the deficit down to six at 57-51. The Falcons responded with a 6-0 run of their own to push the lead back to double-digits at 63-51.
Kansas City cut the lead down to six down the stretch, but Thomas and Spurgin each hit two free throws to close out the game with a 4-0 BGSU run for the 79-69 final.
Da’Shawn Phillip tallied season-highs in both steals and assists. He finished with a team-leading four steals along with three assists.
The win marks the first against Kansas City in program history, becoming the 265th different opponent that BGSU has topped. The Falcons are now 3-0 in the month of December and 4-0 when playing on Saturday, as well as 6-0 during the weekend.
The Falcons will continue their homestand on Tuesday hosting Hampton, they will play Siena Heights on Dec. 22 and Eastern Michigan to open Mid-American Conference play on Jan. 2.
