BG stuns Toledo in last-second thriller

Story by Max Alfonso | TFP Photos by Kyle Brown

TOLEDO – In a season loaded with injuries, Bowling Green pulled off an upset against Toledo behind a Javontae Campbell put-back layup in the final seconds to win 69-68 Friday night.

Bowling Green walked into Savage Arena 3-7 in their last 10 games not having won in Toledo since February 2021.

Before the game, Jon Rothstein, of CBS sports, announced Bowling Green starting guard Trey Thomas would miss the rest of the season with a broken leg, adding to a lengthy Bowling Green injury report with Sam Towns and Yousef Kahayat already out for the year.

“We practiced 3 on 3, with managers, coaches playing; it’s just a hard situation. Some guys are just games only,” he said.

Derrick Butler had 20 points for Bowling Green and played all 40 minutes. He moved into the starting lineup for Javontae Campbell, who is playing with a hand injury that has kept him out of practice since Jan. 6. They combined for 43 of Bowling Green’s 69 points.

“Derrick has been doing a great job for us, he’s given us a scoring punch off the bench,” BGSU head coach Todd Simon said. “We want to stagger some of these lineups, especially when you’re shorthanded, to make sure you have some scoring.”

Sam Lewis gave Toledo the lead with 15 seconds left when he went 1-2 from the free throw line to make it a 68-67 lead. Toledo only led for 5:02.

Simon called timeout with 15 seconds left and down 1. He drew up a play getting Campbell to the basket. He missed the layup; Wilguens Exacte missed a putback; Marcus Johnson missed a put-back; it was deflected to Exacte who passed to Campbell who made the layup to give Bowling Green the lead.

“I wanted to get a quick shot just so if I did miss, we could get the rebound,” Campbell said.

Simon wins his second game in the battle of I-75 and his first at Savage Arena in front of a crowd of 6,837.

“With the transfer portal and all the changes that happened, rivalries still matter,” Simon said. “At least it does in our community, and it does to our guys.”

Toledo has now lost 3 of 4 and falls to 9-5 in the MAC. This is the first time Toledo has lost at least five conference games since the 2019-20 season.

“Disappointing loss. I never thought we got our typical Toledo run. We never got that 10 nothing run,” Toledo Head Coach Tod Kowalcyk lamented.

Sonny Wilson had 13 points for Toledo, his third straight game under 15 points. Before that he had eight straight games with at least 15 points.

Toledo is back in action on Tuesday at Kent State. Last time they played each other, the Rockets lost 83-64. It was their largest defeat in conference play this season.

Bowling Green travels to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday for another must-win game. The Falcons currently sit 9^th in the MAC. The top eight teams make the MAC tournament in Cleveland. Eastern Michigan is currently 8^th.

Toledo forward Javan Simmons takes a shot while being defended by BGSU’s Marcus Johnson.

BGSU Forward DaJion Humphrey is blocked by Toledo guard Trey Thomas.

University of Toledo guard Isaiah Adams watches as a BGSU player attempts a layup.

University of Toledo fans come out for the matchup with I-75 rivals Bowling Green.

University of Toledo cheer team peps up the crowd during a game against BGSU.

Toledo guard Isaiah Adams takes a tumble while trying avoiding pressure from BGSU.

Wilguens Jr. Exacte takes a three-point shot over defendeder Andre Lorentsson.

BGSU men’s basketball coach Todd Simon watches his team on defense.

DaJion Humphrey takes a shot as UT attempts to block it.

BGSU forward DaJion Humphrey scans his options while Toledo defender Sam Lewis applies pressure.

Toledo’s Sonny Wilson directs his teammates to move while under pressure from BGSU defenders Derrick Butler (10) and Braelon Green (5).

A crowd of 6,837 packed Savage Arena for the Battle of I-75 game.