KALAMAZOO, Mich. — If Thursday’s game against Akron was not a must-win, then Saturday’s at Western Michigan certainly became one.
Bowling Green State University played what was described as an “embarrassing” game against the Zips, and needed to reverse course in order to keep its head above water in the Mid-American Conference standings.
Daeqwon Plowden gave the one-word “embarrassing” descriptor after Thursday’s game, in a head-hanging effort from the Falcons which placed the orange and brown in 11th place in the MAC.
Plowden had nothing to be embarrassed about on Saturday.
The All-MAC forward willed Bowling Green with grit and grind late, and scored a game-high 23 points in carrying the Falcons to an 82-75 win over the Broncos at University Arena.
“I feel like we just came out, and everybody was on the same page,” Plowden said. “Everybody came out to compete tonight, and when we do that, we give ourselves a chance. Tonight we gave ourselves a good chance.”
Plowden tied the game at 73 on a 3-pointer with 2:41 to play, and after Western Michigan failed to capitalize on a 3 from Lamar Norman, Jr., Plowden came down the other end, drew a foul, and made both free throws to place the Falcons ahead 75-73 with 2:03 remaining.
Western Michigan coach Clayton Bates called a timeout, and Mack Smith missed an off-balance opportunity on the ensuing possession. Joe Reece missed a put-back chance on BGSU’s end, but Plowden was there to clean it up with a tip-in and a 77-73 lead with 1:08 to play.
“The way he plays, especially down the stretch, that 3 was huge for us,” Falcons coach Michael Huger said. “We’re down three, it’s a big shot in the closing moment. He was able to knock it down all net, and that’s what it’s about. That’s what he came back [to BGSU] for, to have these moments, and tonight was one of those moments.”
Bowling Green (10-9, 3-5 MAC) began the second half with a 9-2 scoring run while holding Western Michigan to 1 of 4 from the field and a turnover in the first 2:30. Samari Curtis sunk a 3 to cap the half’s first possession. After a jumper from WMU’s B. Artis White, Reece recorded a bucket underneath and a dunk on consecutive possessions. White turned it over on the other end, and Trey Diggs came the other way for a knock-down jumper for a 50-42 lead with 17:39 left in the game.
But the Broncos (4-14, 0-7) fought back and tied the game at 50. Norman, Jr., made a mid-range jumper, and Josiah Freeman added a deep 3 after a Reece turnover to tie it.
The teams ping-ponged scores in the second half before Western Michigan pulled ahead 64-57 on back-to-back 3s from White and Adrian Martin. The Falcons, however, clawed back to cut the deficit to 65-64 on a layup and a 3 on consecutive possessions by Myron Gordon with 7:08 to play.
“We knew that every team’s going to have a run,” Plowden said. “We just try to stick together through it. Weather the storm, and come out swinging afterwards.”
Western Michigan grabbed a 71-68 advantage with 3:50 remaining on Markeese Hastings’ jumper, but Chandler Turner made both free throws on the other end following an on-the-floor foul and bonus opportunity.
Reece committed a turnover on BGSU’s next chance, and Norman, Jr., made a layup to put the Broncos ahead 73-70 with 2:55 on the clock.
BGSU played with improved ball movement compared to Thursday. After recording four assists to 11 turnovers in total against the Zips, the Falcons responded with four assists in the first 10 minutes and eight in the first half against the Broncos. BGSU finished with 12 assists to 13 turnovers on Saturday.
Reece and Plowden put the Falcons ahead 8-2 early with four points each. Plowden’s second bucket placed him at 1,428 career points, which passed Shane Kline-Ruminski's 1,427 for 16th on the BGSU all-time scoring list. Plowden made 8 of 10 shots from the field, including both attempts from 3-point range, and he went 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
A 3 from Chandler Turner from the right wing put the Falcons ahead 23-17, but the Broncos took advantage of a pair of Bowling Green turnovers to tie the game at 23 with 9:05 left in the first half on Lamar Norman, Jr’s fast-break layup.
The Falcons climbed back to a 10-point lead at 37-27 on a 3 from Gordon, but WMU scored 13 of the frame’s final 17 points, and got a 3 from Mileek McMillen with 44 seconds left to cut the Falcons’ lead to 41-40 at the break. BGSU made 2 of 6 shots and turned the ball over once in the final 4:02.
Gordon was hyper-efficient off the bench for the Falcons. He scored 10 points on 3 of 5 shooting, made both of his 3-point attempts and was 2-for-3 from the free-throw line. He was also tasked with guarding Norman, Jr., who paced Western Michigan with 20 points but did so on just 9 of 24 shooting. Gordon tied Plowden in efficiency at plus-12.
“He did a great job competing on the defensive end today,” Huger said about Gordon. “He was really good in competing. He stayed down; he stayed low. Made Norman and [White] take contested shots, and that’s what it was all about at the end of the day. He did his job today, and now we got to be consistent in doing our job.”
Bowling Green out-rebounded Western Michigan 39-36, despite losing the battle for offensive rebounds 15-9. Curtis finished with 10 points and five rebounds on 4 of 9 shooting.
After gathering a much-needed win, Bowling Green faces Eastern Michigan Tuesday night at the Stroh Center.
“I’m all about taking it one game at a time, and I’m not preaching to the guys, ‘[Saturday was] a must-win. We’ve got to win this game,’” Huger said. “I want to keep them relaxed and cool and calm and collected where we can just go out and focus. If you put that much pressure on the team, sometimes they can’t handle that. This was just another game for us.”
First Published January 22, 2022, 10:21 p.m.
