Despite Agee’s double-double, Falcons fall to RedHawks, 66-58

Bowling Green forward Rashaun Agee (12) shoots over Miami RedHawks center Anderson Mirambeaux (45) and Miami RedHawks forward Bryce Bultman (25) during the second half of a game on February 27, 2024 at the Stroh Center. (Scott W. Grau|BGSU Athletics)

Bowling Green State Univesrity mens basketball jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first seven points of the game, and took a lead into halftime.

However, in the second half it was the RedHawks who moved out in front. BGSU drew close, cutting the deficit to two with a minute and a half remaining, but Miami held on the 66-58 final.

“I mean, tough game, obviously,” BGSU coach Todd Simon said. “We did some good things in terms of 20 offensive rebounds, only seven turnovers, but we have to be able to put the ball in the hole. That’s the bottom line.

“We got tremendous scoring opportunities and didn’t score it. You can’t go through a game that way. To lead as long as well did, just to have those droughts and they get hot a little bit, it puts a lot of pressure on your defense when you’re not able to score.”

Rashaun Agee led the way for the Falcons, posting his third consecutive double-double and 14th of the season. Agee finished with a 20 points and 14 rebounds, both team-highs, while recording his fourth 20-point game of the season.

Sam Towns nearly joined him in the double-double category with eight points and nine rebounds.

Jason Spurgin began the game with a quick corner three off a Marcus Hill assist. Agee nearly followed with a hustle turnover before Spurgin drew an offensive foul.

The early BGSU run continued with a Hill layup. Agee followed with a second-chance layup to push the lead to 7-0 Falcons.

After a wave sub, bringing in four new players, Miami went on an 8-0 run to move in front 8-7, but a technical foul resulted in two Trey Thomas free throws for a 9-8 BGSU lead.

Agee followed the free throws with a dunk in the lane extending the lead to 11-8 before two Sam Towns free throws made it 13-8 with a 5-0 burst.

A 5-0 run for the RedHawks tied the game at 13-13. Agee had another emphatic dunk, this time on a put back before DaJion Humphrey hit a mid-range jumper for a 17-13 lead at the under-12 media timeout.

Out of the timeout, Miami hit two free throws to trim the lead before a layup from Agee for a 19-15 Bowling Green lead at the under-8 media break.

A 5-0 spurt for the RedHawks out of the media break gave them a 20-19 lead, but Agee drew a shooting foul the next time down the court and hit both to give the Falcons a 21-20 lead.

Thomas hit a three from in front of the Miami bench with the RedHawks answering with a free throw. A layup for Towns granted the Orange and Brown a 26-21 advantage at the final media timeout of the first half.

Miami worked to narrow the gap, but Agee poked a steal loose and slammed it down in transition for a 28-25 score before BGSU’s use-it-or-lose-it timeout of the first half, taking the same score to halftime.

A jumper from Hill started the second half before back-to-back Miami buckets trimmed the score to 30-29 at the first media timeout of the half.

A basket for the RedHawks put them in front 31-30, but layups from Da’Shawn Phillip and Thomas plus a Thomas free throw and a Towns layup made it a 7-0 BGSU run and 37-31 lead.

Miami recorded a 10-0 run of their own to swing the score back to them at 41-37 to force a BGSU timeout.

The RedHawks added five more for a 15-0 run before back-to-back Agee layups cut the lead down to 46-41 to force a Miami timeout.

The two teams went back-and-forth, trading baskets, up to a 59-50 Miami lead with the RedHawks taking a timeout.

An 8-1 run for the Falcons worked to cut the lead down to 60-58, including a big three by Humphrey followed by a BGSU timeout.

After the timeout, Miami closed out the game with a 6-0 run for the 66-58 final.

Trey Thomas did a little bit of everything for the Falcons. He tallied nine points, three rebounds and three assists, tying for the team-lead. He also paced BGSU with a team-leading three steals, matching his career-high.

Bowling Green will take to the road for their next two contests, the final two road games of the regular season. BGSU will first face the Ohio Bobcats on CBS Sports Network Friday night (March 1) before heading to Western Michigan on Tuesday (March 5).

The Falcons will be home again on March 8 for the regular season finale against Ball State and Senior Night.