Box Score
KALAMAZOO -- Brian Snider scored a career-high 26 points, but Northern Iowa clipped Western Michigan, 69-63, in a rematch of last season's Bracket Buster matchup in front of 2,892 at University Arena. Snider set his previous career-high with 18 points against the Panthers (2-0) in last season's meeting. The win snapped Western Michigan's 15-game winning streak against non-conference opponents in regular season games at University Arena.
Western Michigan (1-1) led by three, 32-29, at halftime, but UNI went on a 17-4 run over the first 5:18 of the second half to take a 10-point lead, 46-36. The Broncos answered with a 7-0 run over 3:43 to pull back within three points, 46-43, before the Panthers pushed the lead back out to 10, 56-46, with 8:22 remaining.
Northern Iowa still led by nine, 61-52, with 5:12 left in the game before Western Michigan made another rally to pull within two points, 63-61, on Brian Snider's three-pointer with 1:49 remaining. The Panthers responded as Ben Jacobson hit a driving layup to put UNI back up by two possessions with 1:31 left.
The Broncos misfired on their next two possessions and UNI put the game away on Eric Coleman's offensive rebound and putback with :55 remaining gave his team a six-point cushion.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw seven ties and nine lead changes. WMU led by as many as eight points, 15-7, with 12:58 left in the half on a Derek Drews' three-pointer. Western took the lead for good in the first half after two foul shots by Joe Reitz with 1:04 remaining in the half. Reitz added another free throw with :36 seconds remaining to give the Broncos a three-point halftime lead.
Snider added six rebounds, five assists and three steals to his 26 points while Reitz added 12 points and eight rebounds. Drews was also in double digits with 11 points, 10 in the first half.
Erik Crawford led UNI with 18 points while Grant Stout added 12 and Jacobson scored 11.
Western Michigan is back in action Saturday afternoon in Normal, Ill., against Illinois State (1-1). Tipoff from Redbird Arena is set for 3 p.m. EST.
