UB men’s basketball (2-20, 1-9 MAC) dropped to last place in the 12-team Mid-American Conference (MAC) on Tuesday night after they lost 73-87 to the Bowling Green Falcons (16-7, 7-4 MAC) at the Stroh Center. The Bulls’ loss came despite a breakout three-point performance — and career-high 21 points — from freshman guard Ryan Sabol.
The Bulls had a promising start to the game as they saw early contributions from sophomore guard Shawn Fulcher and fifth-year forward Sy Chatman. After back-to-back threes from freshmen guards Sabol and Bryson Wilson, the game was tied at 17-17.
Sabol would go on to hit another three a few possessions later, but the Bulls struggled to prevent fastbreaks from the Falcons and went into the half trailing 26-34.
UB kept themselves in the game early in the second half by relying on Sabol’s steady three-point shooting. After another three from senior forward Isaiah Adams, the Bulls would only trail by three with 14 minutes left.
Just when it seemed like the Bulls had momentum, the Falcons went on a 17-3 run. With 10 minutes left, the Bulls trailed 44-61. This repeated a pattern for the Bulls, as they have allowed at least one “kill shot” per game, allowing their opponent to score 10 straight points. Runs like this have put the Bulls out of the game almost every time and once again, they couldn’t recover.
The Falcons continued to attack UB, led by junior guard Marcus Hill who finished with a game-high 27 points along with six rebounds and four assists. His playmaking and physical play in the post allowed the Falcons to score 56 of their 87 points in the paint, which was the most allowed by the Bulls all season.
The Bulls would go on to lose 73-87, despite 19 points from Fulcher, who was only one point shy of his career-high. Sabol finished with 21 points on seven three-pointers. His seven threes in a single game are tied for 10th most in program history.
The Bulls will face off at Georgia Southern (5-18, 5-6 SBC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. to continue the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
