BOWLING GREEN — In what was billed as "The Battle For Bowling Green," the guys from Western Kentucky protected their home turf — barely.
In a rugged, ragged exhibition game to open the 2026-27 men's basketball season, the Hilltoppers hung on down the stretch for 65-62 victory over Bowling Green (Ohio) State University on Tuesday night in E.A. Diddle Arena.
"We executed well enough to get the win — obviously, there's a lot we can learn from this game, and that's why we play them" third-year WKU head coach Hank Plona said. "We have a great group of competitive young men, but I thought we played a tad hesitant at times.
"Defensively, I thought we played well the entire game, and I thought our defensive rebounding was very good in the first 13 minutes, fair in the middle portion of the game, and fell off some at the end of the game."
It took everything the Hilltoppers had to turn back the underdog Falcons of the Mid-American Conference.
Early in the second half, WKU got four points from LJ Hackman and three each from Teagan Moore and point guard Sharron Young in a 12-2 run that stretched a five-point halftime lead to 41-28 with 14 minutes to play.
Bowling Green State, spurred by KJ Torbert's 10 points, responded with a 15-3 spurt, however, and pulled within 44-43 on a Torbert 3-pointer with 8:27 to play.
It was a dogfight the rest of the way, but WKU managed to hold on to a precarious lead throughout.
A conventional three-point play by Hackman at 1:17 pushed the Hilltoppers in front 62-57, but a 3-pointer by Josiah Shackelford pulled the Falcons within 64-62 with 50 seconds to play,
Hackman made one of two foul shots to give Western a three-point advantage with 6.3 seconds to go, and BGSU had a chance to tie it just before the final horn but Torbert's right wing 3 missed the mark.
"I thought Teagan and LJ's winning mentality took over at the end of the game," Plona said. "At the end they said, 'Let's go win this game!,' and, fortunately, that's how it played out for us."
In a herky-jerky first half, Armelo Boone scored four points in an 8-0 run to provide WKU a 21-13 lead with just under eight minutes remaining, but Bowling Green State continued to battle and trailed just 29-24 at intermission.
The Hilltoppers — the preseason pick to win Conference USA — shot 41% from the floor, missed all five of their 3-point tries, and were just 5 of 9 (56%) from the foul stripe in the first 20 minutes, which also saw WKU out-rebounded by a 21-17 margin.
For the game, Western was led by All-American candidate Moore, a bull-strong 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior guard who scored a game-best 22 points. Young scored 11 points and Hackman finished with 10. Boone and Hackman each secured eight rebounds to lead the Tops on the glass.
"We need to clean some things up, offensively, and we'll do that with this group," Moore said. "We'll keep working at it, keep getting better, and move on to the next one."
WKU finished at 39% from the floor. made 16 of 26 foul shots (69%), and was just 3 of 13 from long distance (23%). Additionally, the Falcons out-rebounded the Hilltoppers (45-39), and the hosts had a 7/13 assists/turnovers ratio.
BGSU was led by Shackelford's 16 points and three assists, and he got scoring help from Torbert (12 points) and Tristan Beckford (10 points). Preston Squire climbed off the bench to collect a game-best 11 rebounds, and Beckford added 10.
Shooting woes crushed the Falcons' chances for victory, as BGSU shot only 36% from the field, including 6 of 25 from beyond the arc (24%), and made only 14 of 30 free throws (47%).
WKU now prepares for its final exhibition game — a meeting with Indiana at 3 p.m, on Sunday at the Ford Center in Evansville — before opening regular season play on Nov. 2 against visiting Morehead State.