Bowling Green stumbled in their season opener, falling to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 77-68, in a tough road matchup on Monday night.
The MAC vs. Sun Belt challenge started slowly as both teams played their first games of the season. Southern Miss started the game by shooting 50%.
Malcom Johnson, the 6-foot-7 forward for the Falcons, had the hot hand through the first 10 minutes of the game. He scored 10 points while knocking down two 3s and shooting 4 for 6 from the field.
As the middle parts of the first half saw both teams scoring back and forth, Southern Miss held a slim four-point lead going to the closing moments of the first half.
To end the first half, the Golden Eagles went on a 6-0 run to hold a 43-33 lead. The Falcons went cold, going scoreless in the final 4 minutes, 6 seconds of the first half.
The Golden Eagles moved the ball, having four of the five starters finish the first half with eight or more points. The Eagles’ defense also showed strength, forcing six turnovers.
Christian Watson and Neftali Alvarez led the way in scoring for the Golden Eagles with nine points each.
The Falcons jumped out the gates quickly to begin the second half. They went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead in half before the Golden Flashes took a timeout.
The Golden Flashes answered quickly after the hot start from the Falcons, growing their lead back to 9 at the midway point of the second half.
Southern Miss took a lead to start the game and never looked back. The Golden Flashes finished with all five starters scoring more than 10 points.
Leading the way for Southern Miss was Andre Curbelo, who scored 18 points.
The loss for the Falcons marks the first time they dropped their season opener in three seasons.
On the bright side for Bowling Green, three players finished with 14 or more points. Trey Thomas and Dereck Butler led the way for the Falcons with 17 points.
