Monday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Bowling Green 120, Bethany College 65
Ohio 72, Illinois State 68
Northwood 85, Western Michigan 81
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Bowling Green 120, Bethany College 65
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team put together a record-breaking show Thursday night (Nov. 6) at the Stroh Center. The Falcons erupted for a 120-65 victory over Bethany College, marking the fifth time in program history with 120+ points in a game. The scoring was sparked by 45 points off turnovers, thanks to a MAC record 27 steals by the Falcons. The scoring was supplemented by 36 made free throws, just four shy of the program record. The win moves BGSU to 2-0 to start the season for the second time in the last three seasons with both wins coming at home. Bowling Green will be back inside the Stroh for their next game on Sunday (Nov. 9), hosting Le Moyne for a 2 p.m. tip off.
Bethany College opened the game with a three, but a Troy Glover II basket off a Sam Towns find put BGSU on the board. Javontae Campbell kept the BGSU scoring going with a layup, the first of 16 first half points for him.
Two Campbell free throws kept BGSU within one, 7-6. Another at the line from Josiah Shackelford tied it at 7-7 before a Mayar Wol dunk put BGSU in front 9-7. Bethany responded with a 5-0 run to move to a 12-9 lead, but a Campbell layup kept the deficit at one, 12-11. A three from Bethany extended the score to 15-11.
Campbell added one at the line, but another three from the Bison pushed the score to 18-12. From there, the Falcons went to work. A layup from Campbell got it started before two at the line from Makhi Leach. A slam dunk from Javon Ruffin tied it at 18-18 for a 6-0 BGSU run.
A three from the Bison put them back in front, but five straight points from Campbell pushed the Falcons to a 23-21 advantage. Towns kept it going with a layup followed by a massive dunk from Glover and then back-to-back layups from Shachelford for a 13-0 BGSU run and 31-21 lead.
An and-one for Bethany ended the run, but a layup from Justin Thomas followed by a Wol dunk more than matched the points. The teams began trading buckets with back-to-back makes for Camden Karel for a 39-29 score.
The BGSU scoring continued with two at the line from Wol and later two more from Ruffin, separated by a Bison layup. The Ruffin free throws sparked a 9-0 BGSU run that included a Wol three, an alley-oop slam from Glover and a Campbell layup for a 50-31 score.
Bethany hit a three, but a layup from Leach, two free throws from Towns and a layup from Aiden Goins made it a 6-0 BGSU run to close the half for a 56-34 score.
BGSU opened the second half with a 10-0 run with threes from Towns and Ruffin while Campbell and Shackelford added layups. The run made for a 16-0 stretch across the half with a Bethany timeout and a 66-34 BGSU lead.
The run continued after the timeout with two buckets from Campbell and one from each of Goins and Towns for a 24-0 run across the half and a 74-36 lead for the Falcons.
Bethany added to their score, but the Falcons went to work at the line with two from Goins and two from Ruffin before back-to-back baskets from Goins. Wol followed with a layup for a 6-0 BGSU run and 86-41 lead.
Shackelford and Jason Kimbrough Jr. each added two at the line before two more for Shackelford. A second-chance basket for Karel made it another 8-0 BGSU run and a 94-43 lead.
Towns sank three at the line before a brief Bethany run. Two from Campbell and two from Goins at the line pushed the Falcons past the 100-point mark with a 101-54 score. Two more free throws, this time by Ruffin, created a 103-55 score with six minutes left.
Kimbrough tallied the next five BGSU points with two at the line as well as a three-pointer. Leach added another free throw before one from Mohamed Maxamud for a 110-62 lead.
The scoring moved back to the field with a hook shot from Karel followed by a second-chance three from Kimbrough. Karel later added a three of his own for an 8-0 BGSU run and 118-62 lead.
The final BGSU points of the night came from Maxamud to give the Falcons a 120-65 victory over Bethany.
The Falcons will remain at home, facing Le Moyne on Sunday (Nov. 9) for a 2 p.m. start inside the Stroh Center. From there, BGSU will head on the road for the first time this season, taking on Davidson on Nov. 15.
Ohio 72, Illinois State 68
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (1-1) rebounded Thursday night (Nov. 6), defeating Illinois State (0-1) in comeback fashion, 72-68, inside the Convocation Center.
Overall, Ohio shot 51 percent from the field, went 1-of-8 from three and 15-of-27 from the line, while Illinois State shot 44 percent from the field, 31 percent from three and were 6-of-11 from the line. Illinois State out-rebounded Ohio, 36-35, while the Bobcats forced 11 turnovers and scored 17 points off them. Ohio also dished out 11 assists and scored 50 points in the paint.
Individually, the Bobcats were lead by senior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) with 19 points, going 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-8 from the line, while dishing out six assists. Redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) added 16 points and three boards, while redshirt senior forward Jalen Breath (Oklahoma City, Okla.) contributed 14 points, four rebounds and one block off the bench. Senior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) grabbed six.
The Bobcats opened the game with the first six points before the Redbirds got on the board with free throws. Moments later, Hadaway countered with a step-back jumper to put Ohio up 8-2 going into the first media timeout. Out of the break, a three-point play from Breath extended Ohio's lead, before Illinois State recorded their first field goal of the game with 14:07 left in the first half. After a three-point play from Paveletzke put the Bobcats up nine, a thundering dunk from redshirt freshman forward Kiir Kuany (Melbourne, Australia) put Ohio up 18-7, before ISU stopped the 5-0 run with a three to cut the Ohio lead to 18-10 with 10:53 remaining in the half.
After back-to-back threes from ISU cut the Ohio lead to one with 4:15 left in the half, a driving layup from Breath put Ohio back up 28-25 going into the final media timeout. Out of the timeout, the two teams traded baskets, with the Redbirds tying the game at 31-31 with 44 seconds to go in the half. The Bobcats were able to get a stop on the defensive end at the buzzer to send the game into the half tied at 31-31.
At the half, Ohio shot 44 percent from the field, were 0-6 from three and 7-of-13 from the line, while Illinois State shot 40 percent from the field, 31 percent from three and were 3-of-4 from the line. ISU out-rebounded Ohio 22-13, while the Bobcats forced eight Redbird turnovers, scoring 13 points off them.
Paveletzke led Ohio in scoring at the half with eight points, followed by Simmons with six and Hadaway with four boards.
ISU opened the second half with a 5-0 run before a steal and a layup from Hadaway stopped the run. However, a moment later, another three from ISU put the Redbirds up eight, forcing Ohio to call a timeout with 17:24 left in the game. Out of the timeout, Ohio went on a 4-0 run with baskets from Simmons and Hadaway to cut the deficit to four, before a jumper from ISU out the Redbird s up 43-37 at the under-16 media timeout. The two teams traded baskets, with Breath going on a nine-point run to cut the ISU lead to three before a driving layup from Simmons cut the Ohio deficit to one with 11:15 remaining.
Out of the break, a driving layup from freshman guard JJ Kelly (Chambersburg, Pa.) - who played 23 minutes and grabbed four crucial boards - gave the Bobcats the lead back with just over 11 minutes remaining. The Bobcats' offense began to click with back-to-back layups from Paveletzke and Simmons, before senior guard Dior Conners (Columbus, Ohio) drained a three – the Bobcats' first of the night – to help give the Bobcats the 58-55 lead with 6:57 remaining in the game.
Out of the break, free throw from Simmons and a driving layup from Paveletzke increased the Ohio lead to seven, ISU cut the Ohio lead to four, but Paveletzke countered with a pull up jumper to stop the run. Moments later, a three from ISU cut the Ohio lead down to three, but a 5-0 run from the Bobcats put Ohio up eight with 1:18 remaining. After the two teams traded baskets over the final minute, Illinois State hit a three with two seconds remaining, but the Bobcats would go on to secure the 72-68 victory.
Up next, the Bobcats head out west on Tuesday, Nov. 11 when Ohio travels to Moraga, Calif. to take on Saint Mary's. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+.
