Bowling Green Falcons guard Marcus Hill (0) passes the ball from under the basket against Hampton Pirates guard Tedrick Wilcox Jr. (0) during the second half of a game on Tuesday at the Stroh Center. BGSU defeated Hampton 75-65. (Scott W. Grau/BGSU Athletics)
The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team continued their winning-ways, but with a different look, Tuesday morning in the Stroh Center.
Taking on Hampton for the annual School Day Game, the Falcons trailed early, taking a 10-point deficit into the half. The Hampton lead grew to 14 before the Falcons began chipping away.
The momentum shift resulted in BGSU outscoring Hampton 54-34 in the second half while shooting 62.1% from the field to capture a 75-65 final score for their sixth consecutive victory. Bowling Green overcame a 14-point deficit in the game, their largest deficit in a win this season.
“Kind of a tale of two halves after a little of a sluggish start,” BGSU coach Todd Simon said. “During the journey you learn and this is still a new team and us learning how to come back is important too.
“I thought our response coming out of the locker room was good development for us. We had a lot of guys step up, a lot of conditioning.
“It’s great to play guys that long of a stretch at that level of intensity and push. To score 54 in the second half in a game with that physical battle, it was a big deal. I was pretty happy with that.”
With the win, the Falcons have now won six straight to mark the program’s longest winning streak since taking eight-straight during the 2019-20 campaign.
The Falcons are now 8-3 this season, the best start to a season through 11 games since beginning the 2020-21 season with a 9-2 record.
The Falcons were paced by career games from both Trey Thomas and Rashaun Agee. Thomas hit six three-pointers fueling a career-high 25-point output.
Rashaun Agee added his first 20-point game of the season, finishing with a career-high 21. Agee added 12 rebounds, matching his career-high, to record his third-straight double-double. Marcus Hill contributed 14 points while Jason Spurgin rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10.
After shooting a season-low 21.4% from the field in the first half, the Falcons turned it around for a 62.1% mark in the second half, their best second half of shooting this year.
After entering the game averaging a MAC-best 39.3 rebounds per game, the Falcons posted 42 boards, including a team-high 12 from Rashaun Agee.
Agee raised his career points total to 1,018 to join the 1,000-point club at the collegiate level. He also added 12 rebounds, matching his career-high, for his third straight double-double. Agee is the first Falcon with three or more consecutive double-doubles since Demajeo Wiggins had four straight from Nov. 25-Dec. 8 during the 2018-19 season.
With Thomas and Agee both hitting 20 points, the Falcons have now had two 20-point scorers in back-to-back games. On the year, BGSU has had five different players score 20-plus points in a game.
Hill hauled in five rebounds, including a career-high three on the offensive end. DaJion Humphrey tallied a career-high six rebounds, while matching his career-high for assists with three, tying for the team-lead.
P.J. Edwards tallied three points for BGSU to bring his season point total 33, setting a new high for single-season.
Now 8-3, Bowling Green is now tied with Ball State at the top of the MAC standings in overall records. BGSU is now 4-0 in the month of December, 4-0 when wearing their white jerseys with BGSU across the chest and 3-0 when facing Hampton.
The Falcons will conclude the month of December with Siena Heights at home on Saturday before wrapping up the current homestand against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 2 to begin MAC play.
