The Bowling Green State University men’s basketball team secured a 101-100 overtime victory against the UMass Minutemen in Amherst, Massachusetts, on Saturday. Javontae Campbell led the Falcons with a career-high 47 points, tying for the fifth-most in program history and setting a new record for points scored by a Falcon in a road game. This performance marks the highest single-game point total by a Bowling Green player since 1964.
Campbell played all 45 minutes of the game and contributed eight assists and six rebounds. He also matched the program record for free throw attempts in a game with 27, making 20 of them. His efforts included making three crucial free throws to tie the game at the end of regulation after being fouled on a three-point attempt.
Head coach Todd Simon commented on Campbell’s performance: “[Javontae Campbell] is just a special player. You could see it early on, right from the get-go that he was dialed in today. No matter what we called for him, he seemed to find a path to the basket and he did a heck of a job. He made great decisions, still had eight assists. I mean he had 47 [points] and eight assists, so just an incredible performance.”
Mayar Wol made his first start of the season and added 21 points along with six rebounds and two assists. Sam Towns contributed nine points, eight rebounds, six assists—a career high—and three steals.
With this win, Bowling Green improves to an overall record of 11-4 and is now 2-1 in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play. The Falcons have now won four games this season where they scored at least 100 points—second only to their five such games during the 1963-64 season.
This victory is Bowling Green’s first-ever win over UMass and their first overtime win since January 2, 2024. The team is now undefeated on the road against MAC opponents this season through two games.
Bowling Green will continue its road trip with an upcoming game against Kent State on Tuesday before returning home to face Akron next week.
