The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team closed out the regular season with a win for the first time since the 2012-13 season on Friday with an 80-70 victory over the Ball State Cardinals.

The win gives BGSU 10 conference wins for the first time since 2020-21 and the most wins at home since 2019-20. Bowling Green will now turn their attention to the MAC Tournament next Thursday against Central Michigan in Cleveland.

“Really proud of these guys on Senior Night,” BGSU coach Todd Simon said. “We’re playing better basketball. I said it on Tuesday, it felt like Sunday we came in and saw guys back to life, moving better all of a sudden.

“Guys were sick for a few weeks, just running through the team, and all of a sudden everyone is getting clear at the right time. You’re starting to see our energy, the shot-making, all come back because of that.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence and now we have to go carry that over to Cleveland.”

The Falcons and Cardinals traded buckets in the early going, playing to an 18-18 tie. A 4-0 burst pushed BGSU to a 22-18 advantage with Bowling Green holding the lead from that point forward.

Ball State drew within two at 28-26 in the first half, but the Falcons closed out the half with a 7-0 run for a 35-26 lead at the halfway point. Ball State drew within one in the second half at 60-59, but another BGSU run, this time 8-0, rebuilt the Bowling Green lead, rolling into an 80-70 win.

Marcus Hill led the way for Bowling Green with 24 points, his 17th 20-point game of the year to move him up to fifth all-time for points in a single season. Hill added a career-high five steals as well as a team-leading five assists.

Jason Spurgin followed with 15 points, including a team-high three triples. Off the bench, Sam Towns scored a season-high 11 points and led the team with seven rebounds while DaJion Humphrey added 10 points, including two key threes in the second half.

Ball State won the opening tip, but it was Bowling Green who struck first. Da’Shawn Phillip got a layup to fall followed by a Marcus Hill jumper for a 4-0 BGSU lead.

The Cardinals tallied a bucket before Hill hit a three. Ball State added a jumper for a 7-4 score at the first media timeout.

A three after the media break for Ball State tied the game at 7-7. Trey Thomas quickly answered with a three of his own. Sam Towns then snagged a defensive rebound and ran the length of the court for a layup for a 12-7 BGSU lead.

The Cardinals responded with a 6-0 run to move in front 13-12, but a Hill layup reclaimed the lead for the Falcons, 14-13, at the under-12 media timeout.

A three for Ball State moved them in front but a Hill layup tied it at 16-16. The two teams traded buckets to an 18-18 tie as well with BGSU’s bucket coming from an EJay Greer jumper.

The Falcons followed with Rashaun Agee finding DaJion Humphrey in transition for a layup and a 20-18 lead at the under-8 timeout.

After the timeout, Agee joined the scoring column with a layup to push the BGSU advantage to 22-18.

The teams resumed trading points with Jason Spurgin hitting a three for the Falcons to bring the score to 25-20. The same sequence repeated with Thomas hitting another three for Bowling Green to bring the score to 28-22 at the under-4 media break.

Ball State registered back-to-back baskets to trim the lead to 28-26, but the Falcons closed out the half with a 7-0 run to go to the locker room up 35-26. Agee and Hill had back-to-back layups before a Towns and-one for the run.

The Cardinals hit a three to start the second half before two free throws from Phillip and a Spurgin three for a 5-0 BGSU burst and 40-29 advantage.

The two teams went back-and-forth again with layups from Towns and Hill for the Falcons for a 45-35 BGSU lead at the under-16 media timeout. Out of the timeout, Towns hit his first three of the season to push the lead to 48-35.

Ball State answered with a 7-0 run to cut into the lead at 48-42. Humphrey ended the run with a mid-range jumper. Hill followed with a steal and layup for a 52-42 BGSU lead at the under-12 media break.

Spurgin got a hook shot after the timeout to make it a 6-0 BGSU run and 54-42 lead before Ball State added four points at the line for a 54-46 tally.

Spurgin made another layup to end the Ball State spurt before a Cardinal three and layup to cut the lead down to 56-51 at the under-8 media timeout. The Ball State run extended to 11-2 out of the timeout with a 56-53 score. Hill ended the run with a pair of free throws.

The Cardinals continued to chip away at the lead, drawing within one at 60-59 before a Humphrey three to put the score at 63-59 at the final media timeout of regulation.

During the timeout, a flagrant one call went against Ball State for two Spurgin free throws followed by a Spurgin three to push the lead to 68-59 with an 8-0 BGSU run.

Agee added a layup to the Bowling Green tally with three Ball State free throws and a layup cut the score to 70-64. Humphrey hit a three to end the run and extend the lead to 73-64.

The two teams traded free throws with four from Ball State and one from Hill with the score at 74-68 with a BGSU timeout.

Hill hit two free throws after the timeout along with two from Phillip before two Ball State free throws. The shots at the line continued with Hill adding two for an 80-70 score.

Bowling Green has now won 12 games at home this season, the fourth time in the program’s Stroh Center history with 12+ home wins (2011-12, 12; 2019-20, 13; 2018-19, 14).

Marcus Hill continued his climb through the single-season scoring records. His team-leading 24 points pushed his season total to 639. The total puts Hill in fifth all-time, passing Justin Turner (619) and Tommy Harris (624). The 24 points are also Hill’s 17th 20-point game this season.

Hill registered a team-leading five assists as well, the sixth time this season he’s topped the stat sheet in both points and assists in the same game.

Hill completed his strong stat line with a career-high five steals, becoming the first Falcon with five or more steals in a game since Daeqwon Plowen had five against Buffalo on Feb. 16, 2022.

Rashaun Agee registered six rebounds for the Falcons, bringing his season total to 303. That moves him into the Top 10 all-time for rebounds in a single-season, passing Rex Leach’s 297 from the 1956-57 campaign. Agee is the first Falcon with 300-plus rebounds in a season since Demajeo Wiggins had 362 in 2018-19. Agee finished with six points, six rebounds and four assists for the Falcons.

Jason Spurgin finished second on the team in scoring with 15 points, hitting a team-high three triples. The mark leaves him just four points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career, now with 996.

DaJion Humphrey added 10 points off the bench for the Falcons, shooting 80% from the field with two three-pointers.

Da’Shawn Phillip added six points and five rebounds for the Falcons. Of his six points, four came at the line, going 4-of-4 at the stripe and matching his season-high for free throws made in a game.

On the season, BGSU is now 16-0 when leading with five minutes remaining in the game and 17-0 when leading with two minutes remaining. The Falcons are also 10-1 when scoring 80-plus points.

The 80 points for the Falcons marks the first time BGSU has scored 80-plus since Feb. 6 in an 87-73 win over Buffalo.

Bowling Green will advance to the MAC Tournament next week, facing off with Central Michigan in the first roundon Thursday.

The Falcons and Chippewas will play the second game of the day, which will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game, which starts at 11 a.m. Fans should plan for an approximate 1:30 p.m. start for the Falcons.