Team effort gets BGSU win over Eastern Michigan

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Bowling Green State University’s depth was on display Tuesday night at the Stroh Center. When the Falcons’ starters get into foul trouble early, it was time for someone else to step up.

BGSU point guard Myron Gordon came off the bench to score a season high 21 points in leading the Falcons to an 85-71 win over Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan.

BGSU, which improved to 11-9 overall and 4-5 in the MAC, is now one of three teams nationwide to have seven different players score 20 points this season. Eastern dropped to 7-11 and 2-5.

Gordon, who had three assists, was 6-for-11 from the field, made 2-of-4 three-point shots and was 7-of-9 from the free throw line. He got in the game early, made a difference, and stayed in the game.

“We know as a team it’s next man up,” Gordon said. “We know it’s unfortunate if somebody goes down or somebody can’t play, that it’s next man up and we have a very versatile team that can do that.

“I’m just staying with it, keeping a positive energy,” Gordon continued. “My teammates have done a great job of lifting me and helping me stay positive, so I try to stay positive for them and keep playing hard. That is all the coach really asks for.”

BGSU coach Michael Huger, who was wearing a white shirt and tie, capped off with classic Air Jordan Nike sneakers he brought out of the closet to honor Coaches v. Cancer Night, said having a graduate student transfer like Gordon take over the point is priceless.

Gordon already had tons of playing experience at Samford before arriving in BG.

“It is super valuable. You can’t even put a price on that one,” Huger said. “We lost (sophomore guard) Kaden Metheny — Kaden has been out.

“(Junior guard) Samari (Curtis) took over the point guard position, and you’ve got someone like Myron who can come in and knows the position well and understands how to run a team,” Huger continued.

“When you have that kind of depth, this is it, especially now that they are understanding what it takes on the defensive end in order to win.”

Gordon was not BGSU’s only big scorer. BGSU junior starting forward Joe Reece scored 20 points, making 7-of-12 shots from the floor and 5-of-6 free throws, plus he had six points and two steals.

In addition, senior forward Matiss Kulackovskis came off the bench to produce a career high 16 points, grab four rebounds and get two steals.

Gordon played over 28 minutes, Kulackovskis was on the floor 20 minutes-plus, and both are becoming more of a presence in the Falcons’ scheme.

BGSU’s bench outscored Eastern’s, 45-19, and that has been a common theme all season, even in losses.

Gordon and Kulackovskis were hurried into the game partly because BGSU fifth-year starting forward Daeqwon Plowden was whistled for two quick fouls. He played six minutes in the first half and did not score.

In the second half, Plowden kicked his game into gear, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds.

BGSU never trailed the entire 40 minutes, leading 46-31 at halftime and the Falcons maintained a double-digit lead the entire second half.

BGSU controlled the glass by a 42-24 count, including a 16-4 advantage in offensive rebounds as the Falcons had 20 second chance points to the Eagles’ four.

The Falcons shot 44% (28-for-63) from the field and were 26-for-32 from the charity stripe.

For the Falcons, sophomore guard Josiah Fulcher had six points, five rebounds and two assists and sophomore guard Brenton Mills scored four points.

BGSU graduate student guard Trey Diggs, Curtis and junior forward Chandler Turner scored two points each with Turner pulling down seven rebounds and Diggs grabbing five.

Junior guard Bryce McBride led the Eagles with 16 points and three assists and freshman forward Colin Golson Jr. also scored 16 points.

Senior guard Monty Scott scored nine points, senior forward Nate Scott had eight points and six rebounds, and senior guard Darion Spottsville and freshman guard Luke Savicevic scored eight apiece for the Eagles.

Eastern freshman center Moe Njie had four points and six rebounds, freshman center Yusuf Jihad scored two points and junior forward Derek Ballard added one point.

The Eagles shot 49% (27-for-55) from the field and made 15-of-19 free throws.

Huger and Gordon said that since losses to Toledo and Akron, the Falcons have turned more of their attention to defense.

“We’ve really locked down on playing defense, talking on defense, and helping each other,” Gordon said.

“They have really good guards in (freshman guard) Noah Farrakhan and Monty, so we just tried to slow them down. They are really the heart of the team for Eastern, so we tried to slow them down and play the best team defense that we can,” Gordon continued.

Huger says despite Gordon scoring 20 points, it is his play on the defensive end that is getting him playing time.

“He’s starting to compete on the defensive end and that has been the difference for Myron,” Huger said.

“We had conversations during the year, and he’s starting to understand it. He’s got to keep it going — that is the hard part,” Huger continued.

“(Instead of) Getting satisfied and thinking it’s gong to come, you have to continue to work and get better and hopefully he’ll continue to do that.”

Gordon says he believes there is still plenty of time for the Falcons to get back on a winning note and make noise in the MAC standings.

“We understand that we are down a little bit with our record, but we know that we can’t get it all in one game. We’ve got to chip away one game at a time, so we have to chip away and worry about the next game,” Gordon said.

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