National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Bowling Green 92, Buffalo 88
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, February 1, 2019
Where: Stroh Center, Bowling Green, Ohio
Officials: # Tim Stewart, # Bart Wegenke, # Buddy Mayborg
Attendance: 5000

It might be about time for the pollsters to consider Bowling Green as a team worthy of being ranked.

Junior guard Dylan Frye scored 25 points, and redshirt sophomore guard Justin Turner added 22 points to lead Bowling Green to a 92-88 home upset of No. 18 Buffalo on Friday in a first-place showdown in the Mid-American Conference East Division.

It not only was Bowling Green's 11th win in its last 12 games, but it was the first time the Falcons beat an AP-ranked team since Kent State in 2008.

Bowling Green (15-6, 7-1 MAC) also moved into sole possession of first in the MAC East, one half-game ahead of Buffalo (19-3, 7-2).

Trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half and 47-39 at halftime, Bowling Green roared back in the second half, taking an 84-73 lead with 5:25 remaining on a 3-pointer by senior Antwon Lillard.

Buffalo mounted a rally, going on an 8-0 run to cut the Bowling Green lead to 84-81 with 2:43 remaining after back-to-back buckets by senior CJ Massinburg, including a 3-pointer.

Bowling Green took a 90-85 lead with 21.6 seconds remaining on two free throws by senior Demajeo Wiggins, but Buffalo cut the lead to 90-88 with 14 seconds left on a three-point play by senior guard Dontay Caruthers.

Lillard split a pair of free throws with 12.7 seconds left, giving the Bulls a chance to tie, but Massinburg missed a 3-point attempt. Turner pulled down the rebound in traffic and was fouled with 1.5 seconds remaining before hitting one free throw to seal the game.

Wiggins added 17 points for Bowling Green, which outscored Buffalo in the second half 53-41.

Caruthers led all scorers with 30 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and Massinburg scored 26 points in defeat for Buffalo.

The teams will meet again at Buffalo on March 8 in the regular-season finale.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Buffalo   Bowling Green
Dontay Caruthers 28 Scoring Dylan Frye 25
Davonta Jordan 4 Assists Dylan Frye 2
Montell McRae 9 Rebounds Demajeo Wiggins 10
Dontay Caruthers 9 Free Throws Made Demajeo Wiggins 11
Davonta Jordan 2 Steals Dylan Frye 2
Jeremy Harris 1 Blocks Demajeo Wiggins 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Buffalo 88 48.4 12-31 14-19 11 38 2 5 18
Bowling Green 92 50.8 8-19 24-36 7 27 1 6 9