BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Fairmont State men's basketball team fell to Division I Bowling Green in an exhibition game on Monday (Dec. 19) inside the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Fonz Hale recorded a game-high 25 points after making six three-point baskets. Hale added three assists and tracked down a pair of steals.
Isaiah Sanders finished with 15 points and went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
George Mangas and
Tariq Woody both netted 11 points. Woody and
Zyon Dobbs each grabbed five rebounds. Woody, Dobbs,
David Jolinder and
Seth Younkin all tallied one blocked shot.
Fairmont State started out of the gates scoring the game's first seven points. Sanders made back-to-back three-pointers that got the Falcons ahead 7-0 in the first two minutes of the match. Hale hit his first three of the game at the 15:37 mark to put the Fighting Falcons up 12-7. BGSU trimmed the Fairmont State lead to one possession twice in the first 10 minutes. A Hale triple and a Mangas layup completed a 5-0 run for the Fighting Falcons and regained a seven-point lead with 13:32 left in the opening half. Woody swished a shot from beyond the arc to keep Fairmont State ahead by seven with 10:12 remaining in the half.
BGSU held the Fighting Falcons scoreless over a span of four minutes and recorded 13 straight points to jump in front 28-22. A Woody bucket in the paint stopped the Bowling Green scoring run and put Fairmont State behind four points with 5:38 left in the half. Bowling Green led by as many as 13 points in the final minutes of the first half. Fairmont State fought back and ended the half on an 11-2 scoring run and trailed by two points heading into the locker room.
Bowling Green began the second half on an 18-6 run and led by 14 points after the first six minutes of the half. A pair of free throws by Sanders cut the deficit to single digits and a Jolinder three-pointer put Fairmont State behind by six points with 10:52 remaining. Hale trimmed the BGSU lead to five points with a triple at 8:41 left in the second half. Fairmont State could not trim the margin to fewer than five points. Bowling Green sealed the lead by scoring the game's final 13 points.
Fairmont State men's basketball will complete its non-conference slate on Dec. 30 with a road game at Virginia Union at 2 p.m.
