BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team picked up a road win over the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday (Feb. 15), claiming a 63-59 final in the game. The win evens the all-time series between Bowling Green and Buffalo through 50 games and gives BGSU three straight wins over Buffalo, including two this season. For Bowling Green, the win pushes the Falcons to 4-8 within MAC play while being 10-15 overall on the season.

For Bowling Green, Javontae Campbell topped the stat sheet with 20 points, his fourth 20-point game of the season. Trey Thomas followed with 10 points for the Orange and Brown. Wilguens Jr. Exacte led the team in rebounding with nine, matching his career-high, while DaJion Humphrey swiped five steals. In total, eight different Falcons logged at least one field goal, accounting for everyone who played at least five minutes in the game.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jamai Felt won the opening tip for the Falcons in the game. Buffalo scored the first points of the game with a layup, but it was after a Felt swat on their first shot attempt of the game.
• The first Bowling Green points came from a Felt layup, Trey Thomas recording the assist with the inside look. Campbell then drew a foul, making one at the line for a 3-2 BGSU lead.
• Buffalo pushed ahead with a layup on their end, but a triple from Marcus Johnson swung the score back to Bowling Green. The back-and-forth continued with a Buffalo three. Campbell got an and-one layup to fall, giving BGSU an 8-7 advantage going into the first media timeout. He made the free throw after the stoppage for a 9-7 score.
• Thomas saw a mid-range jumper fall. A three answered from Buffalo to pull back within one, but an and-one for Derrick Butler matched the points. A layup for the Bulls made it a 14-12 tally at the under-12 media break.
• Coming out of the break, the Falcons swiped a steal, turning into a Butler slam on the offensive end. Buffalo soon responded with a three, pulling within one. A three from Thomas matched the points with another, this time from DaJion Humphrey, making it a 22-15 BGSU lead and a 6-0 run at the under-8 timeout.
• After the media break, Buffalo made two at the line to end the BGSU run. Butler answered the points with a floater, breaking up another two at the line for Buffalo. A goaltending call counted a Braelon Green basket for a 26-18 lead at the final media timeout of the first half.
• Out of the timeout, Buffalo added three more at the line. A three ball followed to pull the Bulls within a possession. The Bulls converted another three at the line, pushing ahead 27-26 with a 9-0 run.
• Wilguens Jr. Exacte ended the run with two at the line, swinging the score back to Bowling Green, 28-27, at the halftime whistle. 
• Humphrey started the second half with a three for the Orange and Brown. Buffalo made a shot in the paint, but a Johnson fade answered the points the next time down.
• The back-and-forth resumed with two at the line for Buffalo followed by a Campbell layup. UB and Thomas traded free throws before a pair of Buffalo baskets. Thomas ended the run with a layup for a 38-35 lead at the under-16 break.
• After the break, Buffalo converted a free throw. Campbell worked through the traffic for a layup, pushing the Falcon lead back to multiple possessions with a 40-36 score at the under-12 timeout.
• A three for the Bulls after the timeout closed the gap to one, 40-39, but Campbell worked to the rim for back-to-back layups, making it a 44-39 lead with a UB timeout.
• The Falcons kept the pressure on after the timeout. Humphrey swiped a steal that turned into Campbell drawing a shooting foul, converting both for a 6-0 run on his own and a 46-39 lead.
• Buffalo ended the Campbell run with a layup, but free throws from Humphrey matched the points before another Buffalo layup. Campbell made another layup, drawing a foul in the process, for a 50-43 lead at the under-8 break. 
• The first points out of the break came from a Buffalo layup. Exacte responded for BGSU with a pair at the line. A pair of Buffalo threes were interrupted by a Campbell layup, making it a 54-51 score with just over four minutes to play.
• Exacte made his way through the paint for a layup, drawing contact that resulted in an and-one and Buffalo's Tyson Dunn fouling out. Exacte hit the free throw for a 57-51 score at the final media timeout of regulation.
• Buffalo got a layup to fall for the first points after the break, but Thomas answered with a runner before another UB layup, seeing Buffalo call a timeout with the score at 59-55 and 1:42 left on the clock.
• A layup for the Bulls out of the break pulled them within two, 59-57. Campbell answered the score with a layup followed by a BGSU timeout with the score at 61-57 and 28 seconds left on the clock.
• Buffalo made a layup with the Falcons calling timeout with 13.1 seconds left, up 61-59. Johnson hit both free throws for a 63-59 score with 7.6 seconds remaining. The score held for the final and Bowling Green victory.

STAT LEADERS

• Javontae Campbell: 20 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block
• Trey Thomas: 10 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals
• DaJion Humphrey: 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 5 steals
• Wilguens Jr. Exacte: 7 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
• Marcus Johnson: 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

FALCON STAT FACTS

• As a team, the Falcons tallied 11 steals, two shy of the team's high for the season, and six blocks, one short of the team high for the season. 
• Javontae Campbell recorded a team-high 20 points in the game, his fourth 20-point game of the season. He added a pair of steals as well, giving him 74 on the season to move up to second on the program's single-season steals list. He trails only the program record of 82 set by DeMar Moore in 1996-97. 
• Wilguens Jr. Exacte led the team in rebounding with nine, matching his career-high and marking the first time he's led the team in the stat this season. Exacte added seven points, including a career-best 5-for-5 at the line.
• DaJion Humphrey swiped five steals for the Falcons in the game, tying his career-high after having five against Taylor earlier this season. Humphrey also swatted away his first block of the season while scoring eight points, needing 12 to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career. 
• Trey Thomas added 10 points for Bowling Green, joining Campbell in the double-digit scoring effort. 
• The win for Bowling Green ties the all-time series between the two teams with 25 wins each through 50 all-time meetings.Bowling Green has won both meetings this season and now hold the tiebreaker over Buffalo in the MAC standings. 
• The win is the first for the Falcons on the road at Buffalo since Jan. 15, 2021 and gives BGSU three straight wins over the Bulls, the most since winning the first nine meetings all-time. 
• The win marks the first for the team in the new brown uniforms with script Falcons across the chest. 

UP NEXT
Bowling Green will be back home at the Stroh Center on Tuesday (Feb. 18) to host the Kent State Golden Flashes in a 7 p.m. tip. The game will be Star Wars Night at the Stroh. 

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