Falcons Lead Wire-To-Wire In Home Win Over Northern Illinois

The Falcons jumped out to an early 13-4 lead to start the game, but the Huskies battled back, closing within a possession at 15-13. The lead stretched again for BGSU, reaching 21-13, but NIU again battled back within a possession, 26-23. The pendulum continued to swing with the lead growing back to eight for the Falcons, 32-24, before closing to 35-31. Just before the half, DaJion Humphrey hit a corner three for a 38-31 halftime score. A similar sequence followed in the second half, with NIU coming as close as one, 55-54, but the Falcons remained in front, rebuilding the lead as high as 80-67 before the 84-77 final.

For Bowling Green, Marcus Johnson led the way with his first double-double of the season. Johnson finished with 22 points, his ninth 20-point game of the season, and a career-high 13 rebounds, the most by a Falcon this year. Johnson was one of five Falcons to reach double-digit scoring figures, including DaJion Humphrey with 11, becoming the 11th different Falcon this year with double-digit points in a game. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons won the opening tip with Marcus Johnson hitting a jumper off a DaJion Humphrey assist for the first points. Northern Illinois matched with a layup, but a Humphrey three followed before another NIU layup for an early 5-4 BGSU lead.
• Jamai Felt ripped away an offensive rebound and found Johnson cutting to the basket. Johnson missed the first attempt, but cleaned the glass with a tip-in two. The second-chance bucket kickstarted an 8-0 run with threes from Johnson and Humphrey following, both off assists from Trey Thomas, for a 13-4 lead.
• The Huskies ended the run at the free throw line, making two. The Falcons quickly responded with a second-chance layup from Wilguens Jr. Exacte, making it a 15-8 BGSU lead at the first media timeout after an NIU bucket.
• The points before the break began a 7-0 run for the Huskies, cutting the lead down to 15-13. Exacte ended the run with a driving layup with Javontae Campbell adding two at the line. Johnson reached for another tip-in, making it a 6-0 Falcon run to rebuild the lead to 21-13.
• NIU utilized a quick 5-0 run to pull back within a possession, but a Johnson jumper pushed the score to 23-18 Falcons at the under-12 media timeout.
• Coming out of the timeout, Thomas made his first bucket of the game, hitting a three off a Campbell steal. NIU went on a 5-0 run, cutting the score back down to a possession at 26-23, prompting a BGSU timeout for the under-8 media break.
• The first points out of the timeout came off a Braelon Green layup from a Thomas assist. Johnson hit a pair at the line, moving the Falcon lead to 30-23. NIU added a free throw before the final media timeout of the half for a 30-24 tally. 
• Another second-chance tip-in by Johnson restarted the scoring. Each team added a three with Thomas hitting Bowling Green’s. A quick 5-0 run for Northern Illinois closed the gap, but a three at the buzzer by Humphrey for the Falcons pushed the score to 38-31 at the halftime break.
• Northern Illinois made a layup to start the second half, but Thomas responded with a corner three on the BGSU end. The back-and-forth continued with two NIU free throws, a Derrick Butler three and then an NIU three answer. The back-and-forth transitioned to layups with Campbell and Butler each making one separated by a Northern Illinois layup for a 48-40 Falcon lead at the first media timeout of the half.
• Out of the break, the Huskies made two layups to cut the lead in half but a layup from Exacte put BGSU back on the board followed by a Jamai Felt free throw plus a Butler layup as well as two free throws for a 7-0 BGSU run and 55-44 lead. A 5-0 run for NIU chipped away for a 55-49 score at the under-12 break.
• The run for Northern Illinois stretched to 10-0 after the timeout, cutting the lead down to one at 55-54. Humphrey ended the run with a layup and the foul. Humphrey missed the free throw, but Exacte hauled in the rebound, resulting in Johnson drawing a shooting foul. He converted both at the line for a four-point swing and 59-54 score.
• The Huskies sank a three the next time down. The Falcons soon answered with a Johnson layup to push the lead back to two possessions with a 61-57 score at the under-12 media timeout.
• A layup from Butler marked the first points back in action, but NIU answered with a layup of their own. The back-and-forth continued with a Johnson three and two NIU layups. Thomas halted the brief burst for NIU with a transition three for a 69-63 lead at the final media timeout.
• The three from Thomas started an 8-0 run for the Falcons. A free throw from Campbell and layup from Butler continued the run followed by two more Campbell layups. 
• Northern Illinois ended the run with a floater, calling timeout with the score at 74-65 and 1:09 left on the clock. After the timeout, Butler hit two at the line. The back-and-forth continued with a jumper for NIU and a layup for Campbell off an outlet pass from Johnson.
• On the defensive end, Campbell pinned an NIU layup off the backboard, turning into two Thomas free throws at the other end before a layup and dunk for the Huskies. 
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• Down the stretch the teams traded free throws. Campbell hit a free throw, but NIU matched at the line. Thomas sank two more for the Falcons followed by two from the Huskies and another from Thomas. A banked in three for NIU made it an 84-77 final.

STAT LEADERS

• Marcus Johnson: 22 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
• Trey Thomas: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal
• Derrick Butler: 15 points, 3 rebounds
• DaJion Humphrey: 11 points, 2 assists
• Javontae Campbell: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks
• Wilguens Jr. Exacte: 6 points, 5 rebounds

FALCON STAT FACTS

• Marcus Johnson tallied a team-high 22 points and a career-high 13 rebounds on his way to his first double-double of the season. Johnson’s scoring output marks his ninth 20-point game this season and his five offensive rebounds are a career-high as well. Johnson’s 13 total rebounds are also the most by a Falcon this season. He added three steals, matching his career-high. 
• Trey Thomas put together a complete line for the Falcons, registering 17 points, a career-high six rebounds and a team-leading five assists. Thomas also matched his career-high for defensive rebounds with five and set new season-highs at the line, going 5-of-6. 
• DaJion Humphrey recorded a season-high 11 points for the Falcons, including three three-pointers. Humphrey is now the 11th different Falcon this season to score double-digit points in a game. Humphrey is up to 967 career points, nearing the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career. 
• Javontae Campbell filled the stat sheet for the Orange and Brown with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, four steals and a career-high two blocks. Campbell now has 69 steals this season, moving up to sixth on the program’s single-season steals list, passing Anthony Henderson (2013-14) who had 66. 
• Derrick Butler finished with 15 points off the bench for Bowling Green, scoring all 15 in the second half for the Falcons. 
• With the win, the Falcons have now won four straight home games over Northern Illinois and are 9-2 in the last 11 meetings with the Huskies. The win also snaps a five-game skid for the Orange and Brown.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will remain at home for their next two contests. The homestand will continue on Saturday (Feb. 8) against Coastal Carolina with a 2 p.m. tip. The game against the Chanticleers will be a “Snow Day” theme at the Stroh Center. MAC play will resume next Tuesday (Feb. 11) against Ohio with a 7 p.m. start. 

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