Purdue Fort Wayne defeated Bowling Green State University mens basketball, 77-75, in the opening round of the College Insider Tournament at the Stroh Center Wednesday.

The Mastadons used a 14-0 run to take a 43-31 halftime lead, and then held off a second half Falcons’ rally to advance to the second round of the CIT. During the Mastadons’ run, they forced seven BGSU turnovers.

BGSU 6-foot-9 senior forward Sam Towns scored off an offensive putback after a miss in the paint by junior guard Marcus Hill, tying the game at 75-75 with 1:07 remaining.

However, PFW 6-8 sophomore forward Eric Mulder scored in the paint on a dish from junior guard Rasheed Bello with 20 seconds remaining for what proved to be the game-winning basket.

The Falcons called, a timeout with 15.1 seconds on the clock, and on the ensuing possession BGSU 7-0 senior center Jason Spurgin had a good look at a three-pointer, but it fell short. Towns rebounded, but missed the putback just before the final horn sounded.

BGSU sees its season end at 20-14, while PFW improves to 22-12. The Falcons played without the services of 6-8 senior forward Rashaun Agee, who was banged up after last week’s Mid-American Conference tournament.

“Good college basketball game, right? Two teams that didn’t want their season to end,” BGSU coach Todd Simon said.

“Our guys competed. You get a little worried, Rashaun with his injuries and all that stuff, you get a little shorthanded,” Simon continued.

“The guys were resilient like they were all year. I think it’s kind of symbolic of what this group is. You get down, shots weren’t falling, we turned it over a few too many times, but they just keep fighting.

“They fought all year long through every game and that is kind of the hallmark of this group. The game was tied 10 times and you had some ebbs and flows, and you have three good looks at the end to get over the hump and it didn’t go our way.”

PFW sophomore guard Jalen Jackson was 9-for-13 from the field, scoring 18 points with six rebounds in being named the MVP of the CIT’s Jim Phelan Classic trophy game. Jackson was one of four Mastadons to reach double figures.

“You’ve got give your hats off to Fort Wayne — I thought they played fantastic,” said Simon. “They made timely shots and they were leaving it all on the floor.

“But I thought we answered the bell, we answered the punches, and our guys have poise and we know we can make our run.”

For the Falcons, Hill scored a game-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting, plus he grabbed five rebounds, had two steals and was fouled five times, makin 9-of-11 free throws. He was also one of four players on his team to reach double figures.

Senior guard Da’Shawn Phillip was 7-for-12 from the floor, scoring 16 points with six rebounds, senior guard Trey Thomas had 13 points and three assists, and Spurgin had 12 points, eight rebounds five assists, and blocked two shots.

As a team, the Falcons shot 48% (28-for-58) from the floor, were 5-for-20 (25%) from the arc and made 14-of-18 free throws. Usually, shooting like that almost always guarantees a win.

“We just take away that stretch of four minutes (14-0 run) where we didn’t take care of the ball, it would be a little bit different game,” said Simon.

“Especially when you shoot 48 from the floor and made your free throws and did those kind of things, but that little stretch got us.”

The game saw 82 points scored in the paint, including 42 by the Falcons, and was tied 10 times with just three lead changes.

Towns, who started, had six points, six rebounds, two assists, two assists, and blocked two shots and 6-8 freshman guard Ejay Greer came off the bench to score two points, but the Falcons’ bench was outscored by the Mastadons’ bench, 16-2.

PFW fifth-year guard Anthony Roberts had 17 points and two steals, junior guard Rasheed Bello had 11 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals, and freshman guard Corey Hadnot II had 10 points, two assists, and two steals.

Senior guard Quinton Morton-Robertson had nine points and four rebounds, Mulder scored six points with eight rebounds, and sophomore forward Maximus Nelson and senior guard Destin Whitaker added three points apiece for the Mastadons.

PFW shot 47% (30-for-64) from the floor, hit on 33% (7-for-21) of their shots from downtown, and made 10-of-11 (91%) of their free throws. The Mastadons held a narrow 34-33 edge off the glass, and forced 14 BGSU turnovers while committing 11.

Simon said it was not difficult to motivate his squad after the loss in the MAC semifinals to Kent State at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland last Friday.

“Not at all. This is a group of competitors,” said Simon. “Competitors want to compete and we got a chance to keep playing.

“I think since we joined the MAC there have only been four postseason wins in the history of the program, so we said, ‘Guys, let’s try and do something special.’

“It’s a shame you see some of the high major teams decline the NIT bids and all that stuff and you are just like, ‘I don’t know. I’m a little more old school. Let’s recruit competitors that love to play for another night here in March.’ We got to compete at the Stroh in front of a great crowd. What is better than that?

“I feel bad for the teams that have played well enough but then don’t have that opportunity or decline it because you are missing something special.”