Fowler scores 42 points, men's basketball loses to Bowling Green in overtime
Junior guard Chris Fowler drives against Bowling Green guard Anthony Henderson Wednesday night at McGuirk Arena. Fowler had 42 points for the Chippewas in the loss to the Falcons, 76-74.
Junior guard Chris Fowler injured his thumb on one of the first plays of the game. He said it affected him “a little bit.”
Yet Fowler, scored a McGuirk Arena record 42 points and willed his team into overtime.
In a back-and-forth affair with eight lead changes, Bowling Green State University (14-6, 6-3 MAC) took the lead with 43 seconds to go in overtime and held on to win 76-74.
“(Fowler is) capable of elevating the team,” Head Coach Keno Davis said. “On a night where the team isn’t playing as well around him offensively, he can take over. And he was able to do that. Credit him to be able to give us an opportunity tonight to win that game.”
BGSU started the second half on a 12-1 run, leaving the Chippewas (15-5, 5-4 MAC) to play catch-up for the rest of regulation.
With a crowd of 2,474 hoping for a scoring run, CMU redshirt freshman Josh Kozinski and Fowler hit 3-pointers on back-to-back drives to cut the Falcon lead to two with 2:09 remaining in the second half.
Fowler scored the next four points of the game, putting CMU up 62-60 with 34 seconds left. A pair of Falcons free throws with 12 seconds remaining tied the game.
Junior guard Austin Stewart had a chance to give CMU the last-second win, but his shot missed.
“It was a one-possession game,” Davis said. “It was a game where we take the ball hard to the basket at the end of regulation, that’s what you want to do in that situation. I think that says a lot about our team that we can come back from deficits even on nights where maybe not everything is going our way.”
CMU took its first lead of the overtime with 1:35 to play on a Fowler 3-pointer. BGSU's Anthony Henderson, who led the Falcons with 20 points, responded with a 3-pointer of his own, giving the Falcons a two-point lead.
Fowler and Kozinski each had a chance in the final minute to regain the lead with a 3-pointer, but couldn’t connect.
Fowler scored 32 of CMU’s 44 points in the second half and overtime combined. His 42 points is the 12th most in CMU program history.
“With shots not falling, Chris was able to get to the basket to keep us in the game,” said junior forward John Simons, who was the only other Chippewa in double figures with 10 points.
Though CMU hit two of its first four 3-point attempts, it finished the night 6-for-30 in that category.
“They weren’t helping with the shooters after John hit a couple threes in the first half,” Fowler said. “They were just playing me one-on-one, trying to test me to make shots and I was able to.”
Fowler picked up his fourth foul with 9:37 to play in the second half and eventually fouled out with seven seconds remaining in overtime. He played 42 of the 45 minutes.
He also moved into second all-time in program history with 457 career assists.
Fowler said he’s not sure what happened to his thumb, however it was tightly bandaged for most of the game.
“I felt it, but I want to play the game,” Fowler said. “I was able to play through it, but I don’t know. We’ve got to figure it out. I was able to make a few shots down the stretch. If it continues to hurt, then I’ll figure it out.”
The Chippewas lost their perfect 12-0 home record with the loss, but can earn number 13 at 2 p.m. Saturday at McGuirk Arena against Western Michigan (14-8, 5-4 MAC).
