THE BASICS

Score: Bowling Green 69, Ohio 54

Location: Stroh Center - Bowling Green, Ohio

The Short Story: The Ohio men's basketball team (5-8, 0-2 MAC) was dealt a 69-54 loss at the hands of Mid-American Conference East Division rival Bowling Green (10-3, 2-0 MAC) on Saturday (Jan. 10) at the Stroh Center.

OHIO STARTERS: #3 Javarez Willis, #5 Maurice Ndour, #14 Ryan Taylor, #24 Mike Laster, #33 Antonio Campbell  

BOWLING GREEN STARTERS: #2 Anthony Henderson, #3 Spencer Parker, #4 Zack Denny, #12 Jovan Austin, #22 Richaun Holmes

HOW IT HAPPENED 

- Bowling Green shot 44.1 percent from the field while limiting Ohio to 33.3 percent. The Falcons outscored the Bobcats in the paint by a 30-14 count, outrebounded Ohio, 41-34, and turned 10 turnovers by the `Cats into 15 points.  

- Freshman guard Ryan Taylor (Gary, Ind.) led Ohio with 16 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field -- including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. He also contributed three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

- Senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) added 10 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds and three blocks. He also dished out two assists. 

- Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

- Redshirt senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) and senior guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) each distributed a team-high three assists. Willis added five points and a rebound while Taylor posted eight points, two rebounds and matched Campbell for the team lead with two steals. 

- Senior forward Richaun Holmes led Bowling Green with a game-high 18 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. He also tallied an assist. Holmes shot 7-of-9 from the field.

- Sophomore guard Zack Denny and redshirt senior guard Anthony Henderson joined Holmes in double figures with 11 points and 10 points, respectively. Denny chipped in nine rebounds, a team-high two steals and an assist. Henderson added a rebound, a steal and an assist. 

- The Falcons tallied the first six points of the game over the opening two minutes of play, forcing Ohio to burn a timeout. Bowling Green built up its early advantage to 9-2 courtesy of a trey by Denny. 

- The Bobcats shaved Bowling Green's lead to two after a three by Campbell and two made freebies by Willis. 

- Bowling Green countered with a 7-2 run to give the Falcons a 16-9 lead with just under 14 minutes left in the half, but Ohio made it a two-point game again two minutes later courtesy of an alley-oop feed from redshirt junior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) to Ryan Taylor for a dunk, cutting the Bobcat deficit to 16-14.

- The Falcons put together a 9-4 run over the ensuing six minutes to take a 25-18 advantage with just under six minutes left in the half. 

- A trey by Ryan Taylor two minutes later made it a three-point affair at 27-24, but Bowling Green responded by scoring the next four points to take a seven-point lead at 31-24 with just under three minutes remaining in the opening stanza.

- Freshman guard Mike Laster (Detroit, Mich.) knocked down a jumper, and Willis hit a three less than a minute later to trim the Falcon advantage to two again at 31-29, but a trey by Holmes on the ensuing Bowling Green possession gave the home team a five-point lead going into the halftime break. 

- Ndour netted the first points of the second half to make it a three-point game again, but Bowling Green answered with a 7-0 run to take a 10-point lead at 41-31 with 17 minutes left. 

- Ohio countered with a 7-3 run powered by a jumper by Campbell, a three by Stevie Taylor and a layup by Setty to make it a 44-38 contest with 13:42 to play. 

- The Falcons scored the game's next six points to take a 50-38 lead with 10:51 left. Willis knocked down a three to make it a nine-point game with just over 10 minutes left, but that's as closes as the Bobcats got the remainder of the game as Bowling Green outscored Ohio by a 19-13 count over the final 9:46. 

- Bowling Green shot 48.3 percent in the second half -- including 45.5 percent from three-point land -- while holding Ohio to 29.6 percent in the second half. The Falcons outscored the Bobcats in the paint, 18-4, over the final 20 minutes of play.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Ryan Taylor finished in double figures for the second straight game and seventh time this year (tied for third-most on the team)(. He led the `Cats in scoring for the third time this season.

- Ndour totaled double figures for the fifth straight game, team-leading 11th time this year and 36th time in his career. He also led Ohio in rebounding for the ninth time this season.

QUOTABLE

First-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips

- "Hats off to Bowling Green. They were the more physically aggressive team. We didn't handle that very well."

UP NEXT

Ohio returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center to take on MAC West Division foe Toledo (9-6, 1-1 MAC) next Wednesday (Jan. 14). The opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

#SaulBall