BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team continued to rack up the wins, winning their third straight game with a 61-52 victory over Ball State on Saturday (March 1) inside the Stroh Center. Not only have the Falcons won three straight, but they've now won six of their last eight contests. The win moves Bowling Green to 13-16 on the season while being 7-9 in the MAC with two games to go and a spot in the MAC Tournament on the line.

Javontae Campbell led the way for Bowling Green with his fifth-straight 20-point game, finishing with a team-high 26. Marcus Johnson added 15 to the BGSU effort, including hitting three of the Falcons' five three-pointers in the game. On the board, Wilguens Jr. Exacte and Jamai Felt tied for the team-lead with nine each in the win. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game began back-and-forth to the first whistle with Marcus Johnson scoring all BGSU's points before the first stoppage. Johnson made two layups and a three that were matched by Ball State along with a runner for a 9-7 Cardinal lead at the first media timeout.
• Back-to-back buckets for Ball State made it a 7-0 run for the Cardinals, ending with a Javontae Campbell layup. Wilguens Jr. Exacte followed with a hustle rebound that turned into a tip-in layup for him on the offensive end. Ball State added another basket, but Campbell answered the score for a 16-13 BSU lead at the under-12 media break, that came with 8:49 on the clock.
• After the break, BSU extended their lead to 18-13. DaJion Humphrey drew a shooting foul for the under-8 media timeout, shooting two after the break. He made both for an 18-15 tally.
• Each team converted a layup before the next media whistle with BGSU's coming from Campbell for a 20-17 score with 3:50 left in the first half.
• Ball State got a tip-in to fall, but a 6-0 BGSU run followed. Back-to-back layups from Felt started the run with another from Campbell putting BGSU in front, 23-22.
• The Cardinals sank two at the line to reclaim the lead, but another Campbell layup gave the Falcons a 25-24 halftime lead.
• The second half started with Ball State at the line, making two. Campbell answered, weaving through the defense for a layup. A BSU layup matched the points before Campbell sank two at the line for a back-and-forth start to the half.
• Two BGSU threes, one from Derrick Butler and one from Campbell, were interrupted by a Ball State layup for a 35-30 Falcon advantage at the first media timeout of the second half.
• Johnson hit a second-chance triple for Bowling Green before a called timeout by the Falcons with a 38-30 lead in the midst of an 11-2 run. 
• After the timeout, Butler added two at the line for the Falcons to make it an 8-0 run, 13-2 stretch and 40-30 lead. A three from Ball State ended the run.
• The teams began trading triples with Johnson hitting one for the Falcons followed by another for Ball State. Back-to-back layups for the Cardinals stopped the back-and-forth from deep with a 43-40 Falcon lead.
• Campbell got a layup to fall for the Falcons to get the lead back to five. Ball State responded with a three, but a second-chance layup for Felt made it a 47-43 score at the under-8 break.
• The Falcons kept the momentum after the break. Layups from Johnson and Felt pushed BGSU's lead to eight before a Ball State bucket. Campbell converted an and-one followed by a Braelon Green free throw and Exacte layup for a 6-0 Bowling Green run and 57-45 lead at the under-4 timeout.
• Ball State ended the run with two free throws after the timeout. Campbell answered with two of his own at the line the next time down. A three for Ball State and a timeout came with just under two minutes left in regulation and the score at 59-50 BGSU.
• Campbell added a layup for the Falcons before a Ball State miss and BGSU timeout after the rebound. The Cardinals made a layup in the final seconds for the 61-52 final. 

STAT LEADERS

• Javontae Campbell: 26 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 3 steals
• Marcus Johnson: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
• Jamai Felt: 8 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block
• Derrick Butler: 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks
• Wilguens Jr. Exacte: 4 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block

FALCON STAT FACTS

• With the win, the Falcons have won three-straight as well as six of their last eight. The win also splits the season series with Ball State and pushes the Falcons above .500 when playing at home this season with an 8-7 record. 
• Javontae Campbell tallied his fifth consecutive 20-point game, finishing with a team-high 26 points, including a 5-for-5 night at the free throw line. The Falcons have now had at least one 20-point scorer in eight straight games as well as 10 of the last 11 with a total of 12 over that stretch. 
• Campbell added three steals, bringing his season total to 85 for the Orange and Brown, being tied for sixth in Mid-American Conference history for steals in a season after breaking the BGSU single-season record. 
• On his senior night, Marcus Johnson tallied 15 points and hit three triples for the Falcons, giving him 68 on the season. The total pushes Johnson up to 10th on the program's single-season three-pointers made list, passing Trey Diggs (2021-22) and Kaden Metheny (2022-23) who were previously tied for 10th with 66. 
• During his senior night, DaJion Humphrey matched his career-high for minutes in a game with 37, hauling in five rebounds while adding an assist, a steal and a block. 
• Wilguens Jr. Exacte and Jamai Felt both crashed the boards for the Falcons, each with nine. For Exacte, four of his were on the offensive end while adding four points. Felt added eight points, nearly logging a double-double. 
• Derrick Butler did a little of everything for BGSU, finishing with five points, four rebounds, tying for the team-lead in assists with three and leading the team in blocks with two. His assist and block totals both matched his season-highs. 

UP NEXT
Bowling Green will embark on the final week of the regular season next week, beginning on the road against Northern Illinois on Tuesday (March 4) with a 7 p.m. EST tip. The Falcons will return home for the regular season finale on Friday (March 7) to host Western Michigan for a 7 p.m. start. 

Follow the Falcons
Be sure to follow the Falcons' men's basketball team on social media
Twitter - @BGSU_Athletics and @BGSUMBB
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