Monday's Men’s Basketball Results
Bowling Green 82, Kansas State 66
Toledo 102, Central State 58
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Bowling Green 82, Kansas State 66
Box Score
MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team took down the Kansas State Wildcats Monday night (Dec. 1) on the road. The Falcons led wire-to-wire in the contest, growing their advantage to as many as 18 over the course of the game on their way to an 82-66 victory. The win for the Falcons is the first over a Power 4 opponent in 20 years (Nov. 12, 2005) and the first double-digit win over a Power 4 opponent in nearly 30 years (Dec. 30, 1996). The win moves the Falcons to 6-2 on the season, the program's best start since 2020-21 with five of their next six games at home.
In a game that included the nation's leading scorer on the Kansas State side of the court, Sam Towns led all scorers in the game with a career-high 27 points, his first 20-point game as a Falcon. Towns added eight rebounds, sharing in the team lead with Troy Glover II. Javontae Campbell and Javon Ruffin both tallied 17 points for the Falcons. Campbell led the team in assists with five while Ruffin swished home five three-pointers for the second time in the last three games.
The Falcons opened the game with a 5-0 run. Sam Towns swiped a steal that later turned into a tip-in for Troy Glover II. Justin Thomas later added a three before the first Kansas State basket, giving BGSU an early 5-2 advantage.
Towns brought the Bowling Green answer with a layup, but a Wildcat three followed. The same sequence repeated, pushing the score to 9-8, BGSU. The back-and-forth continued between the teams. Mayar Wol hit a mid-ranger jumper for the Falcons before a Javon Ruffin three, but K-State buckets followed each for a 14-12 Bowling Green lead at the first media timeout.
The Falcons tallied the first points after the break. Josiah Shackelford jumped a pass for a steal that resulted in a Towns tip-in for the Falcons. A layup for Kansas State continued the back-and-forth. Shackelford hit a three for BGSU before a pair of triples from Towns, but the Wildcats continued their answers, keeping the deficit at 25-21 at the under-12 media timeout.
The Orange and Brown again started the scoring after the pause with Shackelford finding Wol in the paint for two. Javontae Campbell later added a free throw, pushing the BGSU lead to 28-21. Kansas State ended their scoring drought with a three, but Ruffin answered with one of his own to keep the Falcon lead at 31-24 going into the under-8 media timeout.
The Wildcats resumed the scoring this time around, hitting a three that jumpstarted a 5-0 run to cut the score down to 31-29. Campbell ended the run with a driving layup for the Falcons, but Kansas State answered to stay within a possession. Bowling Green worked to rebuild their lead, beginning with a three from Ruffin. A second-chance layup from Thomas and then a Towns three made it an 8-0 run to push the BGSU lead to 10, 41-31. Kansas State ended the run with a layup for a 41-33 score at the final media timeout of the first half.
Campbell kept it going for the Falcons after the break with a layup, but the Wildcats responded in the same fashion. The back-and-forth continued with a Towns jumper followed by one at the line from Campbell. Shackelford added another BGSU three, giving the Falcons a 6-0 run to close the half for a 49-35 advantage.
Kansas State started the second half scoring by converting an and-one opportunity, but Campbell matched the points with a three of his own. The Wildcats made two at the line, but Towns answered with a pair of free throws before a Ruffin three stretched the lead to 57-40 at the first media timeout of the second half.
The Wildcats ended the BGSU burst after the timeout with a jumper. Thomas made one at the line for the Falcons, but K-State answered with two free throws and a layup for a 6-1 stretch to cut the lead down to 58-46. Shackelford ended the stretch with a free throw. Kansas State added another layup, but a Towns layup matched, pushing Towns past the 20-point mark for the game with 21 and the score at 61-48 at the under-12 media timeout.
After the timeout, the Wildcats added three at the line across two trips, cutting the deficit down to 10, 61-51. Towns ended the brief burst for Kansas State with a spinning layup before another K-State free throw. A three from the Wildcats brought the lead to single-digits, 63-55, but Ruffin answered for the Falcons with a three. The back-and-forth continued with a jumper for Kansas State and a layup for Campbell, 68-57, at the under-8 media timeout.
The first points out of the break came at the line for Kansas State with a pair, but Ruffin responded with two of his own to keep the lead double-digits, 70-59. The back-and-forth continued with a layup for the Wildcats followed by a Shackelford jumper to match, bringing the score to 72-61 at the under-4 media timeout.
Towns began the scoring out of the break with two at the line for BGSU. Campbell sank a layup before two more for Towns at the line, stretching the lead to 78-61 following the 8-0 burst. Kansas State worked for a layup and a timeout with the score at 78-63 and just under a minute-and-a-half remaining.
Out of the timeout, Campbell sank two free throws for BGSU followed by one at the line for the Wildcats. Campbell made a layup down the stretch before a Kansas State layup to match for the 82-66 final.
The Falcons will return home for their first of five home games in the month of December, hosting Utah Valley on Saturday (Dec. 6) with a 1 p.m. tip inside the Stroh Center. The Falcons will then turn around and host Aquinas on Sunday (Dec. 7) for a 4 p.m. start.
Toledo 102, Central State 58
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior Austin Parks tallied a career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds and the Toledo men's basketball team (5-3) delivered a dominant performance in a 102-58 victory over Central State (Ohio) on Monday night in Savage Arena.
Toledo controlled the game from start to finish, jumping out to a 46-21 halftime lead and never looking back. The Rockets shot 51.3% from the field and outscored Central State 66-34 in the paint.
Parks was efficient offensively for Toledo, shooting 10-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Freshman London Praytor also notched a double-double off the bench, finishing with a season-high 12 points and 12 boards.
Also scoring in double digits for the Rockets were freshman Will James Jr. (season-high 12 pts. & 6 asst.), freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. (11 pts., 6 asst.) and junior Sonny Wilson (11 pts.).
Toledo dominated the glass by a 55-20 margin with sophomore Jaylan Ouwinga grabbing a career-high 10 boards as one of three Rockets to grab a double-figure rebound total.
Armoni Portis paced Central State offensively with 11 points.
Toledo will travel to Rochester, Mich. to face Horizon League foe Oakland (3-5) on Saturday, Dec. 6. Tip-off time is set for 3:00 p.m. with streaming on ESPN+.
