BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team hosted the Western Michigan Broncos in the regular season finale Friday (March 7). With a MAC Tournament berth on the line for both teams, Bowling Green and Western Michigan battled back-and-forth with just a one-point difference at the half and the final whistle. Despite fighting to the end, the Falcons came up short in the 64-63. However, with results from around the conference, Bowling Green still clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament, getting into the field as the 8-seed. BGSU will now face 1-seed Akron on Thursday (March 13) with an 11 a.m. tip on ESPN+ inside Rocket Arena. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Marcus Johnson started the scoring in the game with a three for the Falcons. DaJion Humphrey added a layup for a 5-0 BGSU burst to start the game. 
• Western Michigan got on the board with a pair of layups, but a jumper from Derrick Butler made it a 7-4 score in favor of the Falcons at the first media timeout.
• Out of the break, Javontae Campbell converted a layup for BGSU. A 7-0 run for Western Michigan swung the score to them with an 11-9 lead. Butler ended the run with a three for the Falcons with a 12-11 advantage.
• The Broncos responded with a three of their own to move back in front. Johnson worked up-and-under for a BGSU layup, tying the score at 14-14.
• The back-and-forth continued with a three from WMU before a Butler fadeaway jumper to keep the Falcons within one, 17-16 at the under-12 media timeout.
• Out of the timeout, Campbell found Jamai Felt on the inbound for a layup to reclaim the lead. Humphrey later converted an and-one to push the Bowling Green lead to 21-17 with a 7-0 run at the under-8 break.
• The run continued for the Falcons out of the timeout with Campbell finding Wilguens Jr. Exacte for a two-hand slam. WMU ended the run with a jumper, but a Butler three carried the Falcon response.
• Western Michigan put together a 6-0 run closing the gap to 26-25 at the final media timeout of the first half.
• Braelon Green converted an and-one off a Felt block, but Western Michigan matched the points with a three. A free throw for the Broncos tied it at 29-29.
• Johnson made a three for Bowling Green to take back the lead before a WMU layup. The Broncos took their use-it-or-lose-it timeout with 24.9 seconds left in the half. A tip-in layup for WMU gave them a 33-32 lead at the halftime whistle. 
• Western Michigan scored the first points of the second half with a layup. A free throw extended their lead before a Johnson layup for the first Falcon points of the half with a 36-34 score.
• WMU went back to the line for two more. Johnson hit a three to pull the Falcons within one, but a dunk for the Broncos pushed the score to 40-37. 
• The back-and-forth continued with layups both ways, Butler getting one for the Falcons, before a BGSU timeout trailing 44-39. The under-16 whistle came soon after with the same score.
• The run for WMU carried through the break with a layup. Butler ended the run at the line for Bowling Green, hitting a pair. A layup and three for Western followed for a 51-41 Bronco lead.
• Humphrey ended the burst, getting out in transition for a layup. Butler followed with a jumper, narrowing the lead to 51-45 at the under-12 break.
• After the break, Humphrey kept it going for the Falcons with a three, pulling back within a possession. Butler followed it up with a driving layup for a 9-0 run and 51-50 score.
• A corner three for the Broncos ended the BGSU run. WMU added two free throws for a 5-0 burst, taking a 56-50 lead into the under-8 break.
• Out of the timeout, Johnson got a tip-in layup to fall for the Falcons, but the Broncos hit a three in response. Johnson matched the points with an and-one for Bowling Green.
• The Orange and Brown continued to chip away with Butler going to the line, making a pair to close the gap to 59-57.
• A jumper in the paint for Western Michigan extended their lead back beyond a possession for a 61-57 WMU lead with a Bronco timeout.
• After the stoppage, Johnson went to the line and hit two for BGSU, pulling back within a possession, 61-59. Western Michigan used another timeout with 2:12 left in regulation.
• With 41 seconds left, the Broncos made a layup to extend their lead to 63-59, prompting a BGSU timeout.
• Coming out of the break, Campbell made a layup to cut the score back down to a possession. He later added two free throws to tie it up at 63-63 with 17 seconds to go.
• In the final seconds, a foul call put WMU on the line, making one for the 64-63 final. 

STAT LEADERS

• Derrick Butler: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
• Marcus Johnson: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
• DaJion Humphrey: 10 points, 4 rebounds
• Javontae Campbell: 6 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists
• Jamai Felt: 2 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks

FALCON STAT FACTS

• Despite the loss for the Falcons, losses for both Ball State and Central Michigan resulted in Bowling Green clinching the 8-seed in the MAC Tournament in Cleveland. BGSU will take on 1-seed Akron at 11 a.m. on Thursday (March 13) at Rocket Arena. 
• Marcus Johnson and Derrick Butler both scored 20 points for the Falcons, tying for the team lead in the game. It's the first time BGSU has had two 20-point scorers since the win over Toledo on Jan. 21.
• For Johnson, he hit a team-high three three-pointers in the game, giving him 73 this season. That pushes him up to seventh on the program's all-time list for single-season three-pointers, passing Jay Larranaga (1995-96) and Shane Komives (1993-94) who both had 72. 
• As for Butler, he played all 40 minutes in the game for Bowling Green, marking the fourth time he's done so this season. Butler also recorded both of BGSU's steals in the game. 
• Javontae Campbell was held to just six points in the game, but he made an impact by distributing, logging a team-high seven assists. Campbell has now either led or tied for the team lead in assists in four straight games and five of the last six. 
• Jamai Felt swatted away two blocks for the Falcons and led the team in rebounding with eight. Felt's two blocks give him 46 this season, granting him sole possession of ninth all-time in single-season blocks for BGSU. 
• DaJion Humphrey recorded 10 points for the Falcons, his third double-digit point outing in the last four games. Humphrey finished the game a team-best +12 in terms of plus-minus.
• Bowling Green shot 46.0-percent from the field and held Western Michigan to 42.9-percent, marking the first time this season that BGSU has had a better field goal percentage than their opponent, but lost the game. 
• With the win, head coach Todd Simon will extend his streak of making the conference tournament each season he has been a Division-I head coach. 

UP NEXT
Bowling Green will advance to the MAC Tournament as the 8-seed and will face 1-seed Akron in the MAC Quarterfinals on Thursday (March 13). The game is the first of the day, set for an 11 a.m. tip inside Rocket Arena. 

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