DeKALB, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team tallied their fourth-straight win as well as their fourth-straight road win, topping Northern Illinois Tuesday (March 4) in a 71-58 final. The Falcons were paced by strong defensive play in the game, holding the Huskies to just 29.8-percent from the field and 28.2-percent from three. The defensive outing was complemented by four Falcons registering double-digit points in the contest on top of 45 team rebounds for the Orange and Brown. The Falcons are now 8-9 within the MAC. A win in Friday's (March 7) regular season finale at home would punch BGSU's ticket to Cleveland in the MAC Tournament. Full scenarios will be available in the game preview ahead of Friday's contest. 

For the Falcons, Derrick Butler and Marcus Johnson led the charge in the first half, each with 14 points, including four three-pointers from Butler. In the second half, Javontae Campbell and DaJion Humphrey took over with Humphrey scoring all 11 of his points in the second half. As for Campbell, he scored 13 of his 19, hauled in seven of his eight rebounds and tallied three of his four assists all in the second. Campbell topped the final stat sheet with 19 points followed by 17 from Johnson, 14 from Butler and 11 from Humphrey. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons won the opening tip and tallied the first points of the game with a layup from Marcus Johnson. NIU later connected on a three for their first basket with a 3-2 score in the early going.
• A similar sequence followed with Johnson hitting a jumper before an NIU three, creating a possession advantage for the Huskies. A layup from Javontae Campbell knotted the score at 6-6.
• The two teams began trading three-pointers. Derrick Butler hit a three followed by an NIU three. Butler was able to work with a layup, but another NIU three came on the next possession for a 12-11 Northern Illinois lead at the first media timeout.
• After the timeout, Johnson made two at the line for the Falcons to swing the score back to Bowling Green. Butler followed with a pair of threes for an 8-0 BGSU run and 19-12 advantage.
• The Huskies ended the run with a pair of threes, pulling within one, 19-18, at the under-12 media break with all 18 of their points coming from behind the arc. 
• The three-point barrage for the Huskies continued after the break, adding another for a 9-0 run and their first 21 points from deep. 
• For the Falcons, Butler ended the NIU run with his fourth three of the game, but another Northern Illinois triple put the Huskies back in front 24-22 at the under-8 break.
• Out of the timeout, a layup from Campbell off a Jamai Felt steal tied the game at 24-24. Campbell added another the next trip down to reclaim the lead for the Falcons.
• The Falcons kept the run going with a three from Johnson and later a layup for a 9-0 BGSU run and 31-24 lead. 
• A three from Northern Illinois ended the BGSU run, but Wilguens Jr. Exacte answered with a quick layup followed by another Johnson three, pushing the lead to 36-27 at the final media timeout of the half.
• Out of the timeout, the Huskies made a layup, their first non-three of the game with 1:34 left in the first half. A second layup trimmed the score to 36-31 at the halftime break.
• DaJion Humphrey opened the second half with a three for the Falcons, but Northern Illinois responded with one of their own. 
• The Huskies later added a layup and a free throw on a separate possession, cutting the lead down to 39-37. Another NIU layup tied the score at 39-39 at the first media timeout of the second half. After the timeout, a Johnson free throw put the Falcons back in front, 40-39.
• Humphrey added three at the line after drawing a foul behind the arc. A Campbell layup followed for a 6-0 BGSU burst, building the lead back to 45-39 with NIU taking a timeout.
• Northern Illinois ended the run with two at the line. Campbell matched the points with a layup on the BGSU end for a 47-41 lead at the under-12 timeout.
• NIU sank a three out of the timeout to cut the lead down to a possession. A free throw later brought the score to 47-45. An alley-oop inbound from Campbell to Felt halted the momentum for the Huskies.
• Two more at the line for Northern Illinois continued the back-and-forth, but another Campbell-to-Felt alley oop matched the points. Humphrey followed with a three to push the BGSU advantage back to 54-47.
• Humphrey drew a foul on a rebound and made both ends of a one-and-one, creating a 7-0 BGSU run and 56-47 lead at the under-8 media timeout.
• After a scoreless drought for both teams, the Huskies made two at the line. For the Falcons, Felt got a layup to go off a Campbell dish. Campbell added another layup for a 60-49 BGSU lead at the under-4 timeout, coming from an NIU called timeout with Bowling Green on an 11-2 run spanning over seven minutes of game time.
• NIU ended the Falcon stretch with one at the line after the timeout. Campbell responded with two at the line for Bowling Green. The back-and-forth continued with a Northern Illinois layup and two at the line for a 62-54 score and a BGSU timeout.
• A lob pass found Campbell all alone just beyond half court, beating the press for a layup. Down the stretch, Campbell added three at the line for a 67-54 advantage.
• The Huskies made two at the line, but Johnson responded with two free throws for the Falcons. Braelon Green made two as well before an NIU dunk for a 71-58 final.

STAT LEADERS

• Javontae Campbell: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal
• Marcus Johnson: 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
• Derrick Butler: 14 points, 7 rebounds
• DaJion Humphrey: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
• Jamai Felt: 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 steal

FALCON STAT FACTS

• Bowling Green has now won four-straight games for the first time this season and four-straight road games for the first time since the 2020-21 season. Overall the Falcons have won seven of their last nine. 
• Defensively, the Falcons held Northern Illinois to a mark of 29.8-percent from the field and 28.2-percent from three. In the second half alone, BGSU held NIU to 22.2-percent from the field and 12.5-percent from three. 
• As a team, Bowling Green hauled in 45 rebounds, their second-most during MAC play behind only their 50 against Akron in the conference opener. Six different Falcons had at least five rebounds in the game. 
• Despite seeing his free throw streak come to an end at 32 consecutive free throws made, Marcus Johnson managed to finish the game with 17 points and seven rebounds while tying for the team lead in assists with four. 
• With a pair of threes, Johnson now has 70 triples for the Falcons this season. That moves him up to ninth on the single-season three-pointers list in program history, passing Brian Moten (2008-09). The next step for Johnson would be seventh at 72, which is currently a tie between Jay Larranaga (1995-96) and Shane Komives (1993-94). 
• Jamai Felt swatted away a duo of blocks for the Falcons, giving him 44 on the season. Felt is now tied for ninth in program history for blocks in a season, matching Ed Colbert's 1990-91 total. 
• While Javontae Campbell didn't extend his 20-point streak, he missed it by just one, finishing with a team-high 19 points. Campbell also led the Falcons in rebounds with eight, tied for the team-lead in assists with four and matched his season-high for blocks with two. Campbell has now led BGSU in scoring in six consecutive games and a team-best 11 times this year. 
• Derrick Butler logged 14 points for the Falcons, hitting four key three-pointers that helped the Falcons keep pace with NIU's nine first half threes. Butler added seven rebounds, matching his season-high. 
• DaJion Humphrey played a team-high and career-high 38 minutes in the game, contributing 11 points, including a 5-for-5 night at the line. Humphrey set new season-highs for both free throws made and attempted while his five makes matched his career-high. 
• The Falcons have now swept the season series over Northern Illinois in addition to having won five straight in DeKalb and nine of the last 10 meetings overall.

QUOTE FROM COACH SIMON
"I thought our performance was really good on [defense]. Holding a team under 30-percent in Division-I basketball is really hard to do and we only gave up two threes in the second half. That makes our last six wins, we're giving up around 56 points per game. You've seen us really come to life here on the defensive end."

UP NEXT
The Falcons will be back at the Stroh Center on Friday (March 7) for the regular season finale. Bowling Green will host Western Michigan in a 7 p.m. tip with key MAC Tournament implications on the line. A win for BGSU would clinch a spot in the MAC Tournament.  

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