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Johnson’s 28, Felt’s Double-Double Not Enough For BGSU In Battle Of I-75

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Fri, Jan 24, 2025

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team hosted the season's first edition in the Battle of I-75 Friday night (Jan. 24), taking on the rival Rockets on National TV in front of a packed Stroh Center. The Falcons and Rockets battled back-and-forth in the first half, trading the lead six times with four ties in the first 20 minutes. In the second half, Toledo maintained their lead and thwarted the BGSU comeback attempts by matching shots. In the end, the Rockets claimed an 84-71 final. 

For the Orange and Brown, Marcus Johnson led all scorers with a game-high 28 points, his most of the season. Trey Thomas added 13 points while Jamai Felt stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 10 points, a career-high and team-leading 13 rebounds, three blocks and two steals in the contest. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Falcons won the opening tip. Bowling Green tallied two blocks early, one from Trey Thomas and another from Jamai Felt, but Toledo was able to jump out to a 7-0 lead.
  • The first BGSU points of the game came at the line with Marcus Johnson knocking down a pair. Toledo answered with a layup, but a three from Johnson cut the score down to 9-5 at the first media timeout.
  • Toledo added two free throws out of the break. The back-and-forth continued with Thomas hitting a three followed by a Rocket layup before another BGSU three, this time from Derrick Butler, cutting the score down to 13-11.
  • The three-point barrage continued with Johnson hitting one off a Thomas offensive board, for a 14-13 lead. Toledo answered with one of their own the next time down, sparking a 6-0 Rocket run for a 19-14 advantage. Wilguens Jr. Exacte converted a layup for BGSU, but another Toledo three pushed their lead to 22-16 at the under-12 media break.
  • Felt added to the Bowling Green tally with a pair of free throws. The Rockets hit another three, but Thomas drew a foul behind the arc for BGSU, hitting all three at the line. Toledo sank a jumper before a Johnson post move matched the tally for a 27-23 score at the under-8 break.
  • Johnson utilized another post move, this time ending in a hook shot, to bring the Falcons within a possession. Yet another power move in the post by Johnson tied it up at 27-27. Toledo hit two at the line, but a steal by Javontae Campbell turned into a massive two-hand jam on the fastbreak by Butler. Defensive pressure by the Falcons the next time down forced a UT timeout.
  • A corner three from the Rockets swung the score, but a jumper from Johnson and a Felt dunk off a Thomas find put BGSU back in front. Toledo added another basket before the final media timeout of the half for a 34-33 lead, making a free throw after the break.
  • The back-and-forth continued with Campbell converting an and-one opportunity to push BGSU back in front. A three point answer later followed for Toledo. A layup from Felt knotted it up at 38-38 with another three for Toledo breaking the tie. UT ended the half with a 5-0 run for a 43-38 advantage at the midway point.
  • After back-to-back steals for BGSU top open the second half, one from Thomas and another from Felt, Campbell made the first points of the half with a layup off the Felt steal. 
  • Back-to-back three-point trips for Toledo were interrupted by a Butler layup. The Rockets added another three for a 52-42 lead with the Falcons taking a timeout.
  • After a UT basket, Felt made a layup for the Falcons, drawing a foul to prompt the under-16 timeout. He made the free throw out of the timeout. The three-point play sparked a 5-0 burst for the Falcons with Thomas making a jumper, cutting the score down to 54-47
  • Toledo responded to rebuild their lead to 57-47 with another three. Johnson traded and-one opportunities with the Rockets followed by a Thomas jumper for a 60-52 tally at the under-12 break.
  • The back-and-forth between the teams continued after the timeout. For the Falcons, Thomas and Johnson both hit jumpers followed by a second-chance DaJion Humphrey and-one. Felt added one at the line, cutting the score down to 65-58 at the under-8 media break. Humphrey added another at the line after the timeout.
  • Johnson hit two more at the line for the Falcons, but a three ball for Toledo pushed their lead to 70-61. Campbell continued the BGSU night at the line, connecting on one free throw.
  • Toledo made one free throw followed by a Johnson layup for the Falcons. Johnson then hit a three the next trip down, but Toledo responded with a layup for a 75-67 score at the final media of regulation.
  • Two jumpers for Toledo came out of the break with Campbell making a free throw in between. The Rockets added two at the line. Thomas hit a three for BGSU, cutting the score down to 81-71 with a timeout. After the timeout, Toledo made one at the line and later a jumper for the 84-71 final.

STAT LEADERS

FALCON STAT FACTS

  • Marcus Johnson recorded a season-high 28 points for the Orange and Brown, his team-leading seventh 20-point game of the season. Johnson hit the mark going 10-of-20 from the field and 5-for-5 at the line. Johnson's 10 field goals matched his season-high. He also matched his season-high for offensive rebounds with three. 
  • Jamai Felt posted his second double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. The 13 rebounds are the most by a Falcon on the current roster, surpassing Felt's 12 he had on Nov. 30 against New Mexico State. 
  • Felt added another three blocks to his stat line as well as two steals. He now has 29 blocks on the season with 19 of those coming during MAC play, leading the conference against MAC opponents and ranking second overall for the season. 
  • Trey Thomas contributed in multiple ways for BGSU. He tallied 13 points, continuing his streak of double-digit points in all MAC games. Thomas matched his season-high for rebounds with four and tied for the team-lead in assists with three. He topped off his stat line with a steal and his first career multi-block game with two. 
  • DaJion Humphrey played a season-high 24 minutes and got back in the scoring column for the first time since Nov. 19 against Niagara after missing time due to an injury. Humphrey tallied four points along with a pair of rebounds, an assist and a steal. 

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"It's a tough loss, you never want to lose a rivalry game. Hats off to Toledo, they played great and shot it really well. They made us pay any chance they got. We have to do a better job with the things we emphasize, particularly rebounding. It was a huge emphasis all week and we didn't get that done. We had a good game of sharing the ball and making some plays at Miami (OH) and this game I thought we had way too many hero shots. The ball got a little sticky, particularly with their switching and guys trying to win their one-on-one battles as opposed to drawing two and making a play for somebody else. All-in-all we have to continue to get back to the drawing board. The season is a marathon. We have to get back, get better, learn from our mistakes, find the strengths and then apply them in the next game."

UP NEXT
The Falcons will take to the road for their next two contests, traveling to Kent State on Tuesday (Jan. 28) and Central Michigan on Saturday (Feb. 1), both 7 p.m. starts. From there Bowling Green will return home for three-straight games, beginning with Northern Illinois on Feb. 4.

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