3-point play: Metheny's injury leaves way for Bowling Green's reserves
Dec. 8—BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University closed off Horizon League foe Oakland for a 73-72 victory on Tuesday at the Stroh Center.
The Falcons had to fend off a last-second shot by the Golden Grizzlies, but were able to clinch a victory after Trey Townsend's bunny missed high off the glass at the buzzer.
BGSU improved to 5-4 on the season and has won three in a row and four of its last five games.
Here are three takeaways from the victory:
1. Kaden Metheny's injury shuffled lineup
The undisputed and completely unofficial "glue guy" of the Falcons' lineup missed the second half and played 6:21 in the first half after sustaining what appeared to be a lower-body injury. Metheny exited the game with 14:38 left in the first half and re-entered with 5:57 left, and went down after hard contact with 4:58 left in the first half and did not return.
Metheny's absence forced coach Michael Huger to go deep into his bench, with Brenton Mills and Isaac Elsasser serving as complementary pieces to equal production on both ends of the floor at the guard position.
Metheny is Bowling Green's primary ball handler and is the offensive starter when it comes to running designed plays. Mills took over ball-handling duties and was able to facilitate to forwards Daeqwon Plowden and Joe Reece, and to Chandler Turner, who set a career high in points with 23 on Tuesday.
"When Kaden went down, we basically just played another group that played well together," Huger said, "and that's what it was. The group played well. Brenton Mills played a lot of minutes at the one [point guard]. He has played the one in practice, so it's not something that was totally foreign to him.
"Isaac plays the one in practice and the two [shooting guard], so he knows basically one, two, and the three [forward]. So Isaac can play all of those positions."
2. Missed 3-pointers nearly cost Falcons in the beginning
Bowling Green started the game shooting 1-for-8 from the field and 0-for-6 from 3-point range. The Falcons' identity primarily runs through Plowden and Reece. BGSU is shooting 31.7 percent (73-for-230) on 3-pointers on the season.
The Falcons went down 11-2 to start the first 5:35 of the game, but at caught fire from 3. Plowden, Turner, and Josiah Fulcher each made 3-pointers that contributed to a 13-3 run over 2:31 that gave the Falcons a 15-14 lead with 11:54 to play in the first half.
The Falcons found their groove later in the game and recovered to finish with a 9-for-24 clip.
Turner was the primary reason why BGSU got back on track. He made 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and Plowden followed by hitting 2 of 3 3-pointers. Turner was also able to dribble, drive, and go to the rim.
"It was just one of those nights," Turner said. "The ball kept coming, and I was like, 'Oh, I can make a move,'" Turner said. "Just attack and trust in my skills, and it just worked.
"This is a big win for us. A win at home, in a close game at home against a really good team. Get some momentum going before [Mid-American Conference] play, and that's really important, especially in this league."
3. Rest, recovery is on the way
The Falcons have 11 full days before their next game Dec. 19 against Robert Morris. The team has missed Myron Gordon and Jackson Watson from its lineup, and the unknown around Metheny's injury could throw a wrench into plans going forward.
Luckily for Huger and Co., they won't have to sort that out immediately.
"The biggest thing is now preparing," Huger said. "We just have to prepare for [Robert Morris], and we have those days to heal and get better, get stronger. We just got to do a great job of practicing and getting those guys back into the flow of practice. When you miss a couple of days, you're a little but out of rhythm, and now we just got to get them back into rhythm."
