Bowling Green State University faced a double-digit deficit, but rallied in the second half and defeated Atlantic 10 Conference member Duquesne 78-70 on Wednesday to get its record back to .500 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh.
BGSU got a second-chance bucket from Joe Reece to cut the deficit to 70-69 with 1:49 to play. The Falcons forced an offensive foul from Leon Ayers III, and Samari Curtis’ 3-pointer gave the Falcons a 72-70 lead with 58 seconds to play.
Ayers missed a corner 3 on Duquesne’s next possession, and Reece was fouled off a rebound and made both free throws on the other end to put the Falcons ahead 74-70 with 36 seconds remaining.
Tre Williams banked a 3 off the front of the rim, and Josiah Fulcher was fouled and missed the one-and-one on the other end.
Ayers missed a 3 off the back iron, and Reece iced the game with a pair of free throws to give BGSU a 76-70 lead with 16 seconds left. Curtis made the Falcons’ final two free throws with 9 seconds remaining.
"It was a lot of fun to get out there and coach those guys and watch how hard they worked, how hard they played, how hard they competed,” Falcons coach Michael Huger said. “The biggest thing, they held each other accountable. That's something we've been working on. Those guys did a great job holding each other accountable, and that was fun to see."
Duquesne led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but the Falcons fought back to close the gap before the break, and then again shortly after the start of the second half.
The Dukes held a 38-32 lead at halftime, and BGSU cut the deficit to 44-41 on Kaden Metheny’s 3-pointer with 17:50 left.
Reece and Metheny paced Bowling Green (4-4) in scoring with 15 points apiece. Curtis scored 14, and Daeqwon Plowden had 13 points. Reece had a double-double with 12 rebounds, and Plowden grabbed nine boards.
The Falcons were down 59-55 with 7:25 to play in the second half, but rallied to take the lead at 60-59 on Fulcher’s layup and a left wing 3-pointer on consecutive possessions with 6:24 to play.
Curtis’ layup put BGSU ahead at 64-63 with 4:25 to play in regulation, and Ayers’ triple gave the Dukes a 66-64 lead. Going back down the floor, Curtis found a cutting Reece for a layup and one, but he missed the free throw to keep the game tied at 66.
Duquesne (3-5) got 20 points from Ayers and 18 points and eight rebounds from Kevin Easley. Williams had 12 points.
Bowling Green returns to the Stroh Center to face Oakland at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
First Published December 2, 2021, 2:22 a.m.
