BOWLING GREEN — Saturday’s Battle of I-75 was an uphill climb for Bowling Green State University before it set foot onto the floor for the opening tip.
Playing short-handed, the Falcons, in coach Michael Huger’s words, “ran out of gas” in a 91-78 defeat to archrival Toledo at the Stroh Center. The defeat brought the Falcons back to the .500 mark at 8-8, and their 1-4 Mid-American Conference record sits them in 11th of 12 in the league, only ahead of 4-12, 0-5 Western Michigan.
The Falcons are officially past the halfway mark of their schedule, and Tuesday’s game at Northern Illinois (5-8, 2-1 MAC) is the third in a row against the top three teams in the MAC standings, coincidentally in sequential order (Ohio, 4-0 in MAC play; Toledo, 5-1 in MAC play).