Bowling Green’s Buccaneers were defeated by Silliman Institute in their District 5AAA opener at home Thursday.

The Buccaneers fell behind 17-8 and 20-10 in the second quarter, but came back and finished the first half on a 6-0 run.

Austin Reedy converted a 3-point play to begin the run. He then knocked down two more from the line and Jonathon Smith split from the line, trimming the lead to 20-16 at halftime.

Bowling Green added 13 more the run to open the third quarter, making it a 19-0 run.

Matt Pierce hit 1-of-2 from the line. Connor Comeaux trimmed the lead to one with a bucket and Pierce gave Bowling Green its first lead of the game with a field goal. It was 21-20.

The run continued when Pierce hit for two, as did Smith to make it a 25-20 lead.

Lane Adams and Smith capped off the run with a field goal each and it was 29-20.
The Buccaneers led 32-24 through three.

Silliman came back though. With Bowling Green leading 35-29, Silliman tallied nine straight points to go up 38-35.

The Bucs trimmed the lead to one, but could get no closer in the 43-39 loss.

Smith scored 14 points for Bowling Green. He also pulled down three rebounds while dishing out two assists and making two steals.

Reedy put up 10 points and was successful on all five of his free-throw attempts. He also finished with three rebounds and a steal.

Pierce scored seven points on 3-of-4 from the field to go with four rebounds and a steal.

Adams and Comeaux finished with four points each.

Adams added four boards and an assist while Comeaux had three rebounds two assists and two blocks.