WKU Men’s Basketball defeated Bowling Green State University 72-65 in Laval, Quebec on Nov. 24. The game was the Hilltoppers first contest in the Northern Classic.
The Hilltoppers and Falcons traded buckets early on, but the Hilltoppers took a seven point lead into halftime after a back-and-forth first half.
WKU then extended its lead to 15 early in the second half. The Falcons responded with a comeback bid that brought them within four points at the 2:35 mark in the second half. The Hilltoppers proceeded to pull away to claim a seven point win in the final minutes.
BGSU outshot the Hilltoppers, percentage wise, from the field, shooting 40 percent, compared to WKU’s 35 percent.
The Hilltoppers shot 4-17 from three while the Falcons shot 5-26. The Falcons also out-rebounded WKU 43-40 in the contest.
The Hilltoppers did however play strong defense, forcing the Falcons into 23 turnovers. On the other side of the ball, WKU only turned it over 11 times.
Junior Don McHenry led the Hilltoppers in scoring with 17 points. McHenry only attempted six field goals but shot 10-12 from the free-throw line. McHenry also claimed five rebounds and three assists.
Fifth-year senior Rodney Howard was another key contributor for WKU. Howard scored 16 points on 8-13 shooting to go along with six rebounds.
The Hilltoppers had trouble containing junior Marcus Hill on the Falcons. Hill tallied 29 points in the contest on 10-14 shooting. WKU was able to limit the rest of the team however, as no one else scored more than nine points for BGSU.
WKU now stands at 4-1 on the season after winning three straight.
The Hilltoppers will return to the court in Canada Nov. 25 to take on Canisius University at 1 p.m. CT in the Northern Classic.
