BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University showed on Saturday just how much the men’s basketball squad has grown as a team recently.
The Falcons earned a close win that last year’s team, or even the team in the first half of the season, might not have gotten.
Kaden Metheny buried back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite the Stroh Center crowd, Sam Towns hit several clutch free throws, and BGSU made big plays defensively in the final four minutes to edge Ohio 88-79 in a Mid-American Conference men’s basketball game.
“It talks a lot about our character. At the beginning of the season, we weren’t doing anything like this,” Towns said. “This is something that [BGSU] coach [Michael Huger] has really been zoning in on, making sure we’re finishing games, and it really feels good to get in those close games and come out with it and celebrate with the team afterwards.”
BGSU notched its fourth straight victory to improve to 8-7 (2-0 MAC). The Falcons, who endured a five-game losing streak early in the year, had 88 or more points for the fourth straight contest.
Ohio fell to 8-7 overall, including 0-2 in league play.
BGSU built a 56-43 lead with 15 minutes left, but Ohio switched to a zone defense that caused the Falcons to become stagnant at times. The Bobcats took a 64-63 lead with 8:47 left on Gabe Wiznitzer’s bucket, and they held a 72-68 advantage with 6:02 left.
BGSU, however, didn’t fold.
Samari Curtis hit a jumper, Towns went 3 of 4 from the free-throw line, and Metheny sank two 3s in an 11-0 run as the Falcons took a 79-72 lead with 2:39 left.
Metheny’s first 3-pointer came off a Chandler Turner steal, and his second 3-pointer came off a pass from Curtis, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
“That’s why I play basketball, those moments are unreal,” Metheny said. “Just being able to be in that zone, see the ball go through the hoop, seeing all your work paying off out there, there’s nothing like it.”
BGSU maintained at least a five-point lead the rest of the way. The Falcons sank 9 of 10 free throws in the final four minutes.
With 31 seconds left and BGSU leading 82-77, Turner recorded a steal after teammate Rashaun Agee deflected a pass. Brenton Mills had a key steal in the final seconds, as well, to secure the win.
BGSU committed just five turnovers compared to 14 for Ohio. The Falcons had a 21-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
“We’ve done a great job of taking care of the ball,” Huger said. “The turnovers that we did have, I thought were dead-ball turnovers where they had to take it out of bounds and not live ball where they could go in transition.
“I think that was the difference in the game because our five, we got shots on one end and they turned it over 14, that means they’re not getting the shots that they were wanting. That gave us another opportunity to score.”
Metheny poured in a game-high 25 points, including five 3-pointers. Agee added 16 points, six rebounds, and four blocks off the bench, while Leon Ayers III added 13 points and four assists.
Towns, who transferred to BGSU after playing for Ohio the previous two seasons, had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double with a pair of blocks, as well.
“I wanted this one, I’m not going to lie about that. I wanted this one,” Towns said of playing his former team. “But I was really focused on our team going 2-0 to start the MAC play and putting the league on notice that we’re here for real.”
Dwight Wilson, a sturdy 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward for Ohio, scored 17 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to front the Bobcats. A.J. Brown added 17 points and DeVon Baker 10.
The Bobcats had a 41-33 rebounding advantage. Ohio shot 44.3 percent and BGSU 49.2 percent.
BGSU will be back in action at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Akron.
First Published January 8, 2023, 12:12 a.m.
