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HONOLULU -- Joe Reitz tipped in a missed three-pointer by Stane's Bufford at the buzzer to give Western Michigan a 62-61 win over Loyola Marymount in the consolation bracket of the 42nd Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. Reitz had hit only 1-of-8 shots in the game leading up to the final seconds. The Broncos (3-5) advance to the fifth-place game Friday at 6:30 p.m. EST against Oregon State.

"We really needed this win and we really needed to win it in this manner for a team that was struggling with confidence," head coach Steve Hawkins said.

The Broncos trailed by two, 61-59, with :11 remaining after John Montgomery converted 1-of-2 free throws for the Lions (3-8). Brian Snider was fouled bringing the ball up the court and hit his first free throw with :05 remaining to pull WMU within one. Snider missed the second free throw long and the ball bounced out to Bufford well behind the three-point line. Bufford missed his three-pointer long and the ball was tipped into the air once and then Reitz tipped in the Broncos' 25th offensive rebound from five feet out directly in front of the basket.

"Stane's shot a deep three and I was thinking it was deep and it might come out," Reitz said. "I just ran up there and knew (the officials) probably weren't going to call a foul. I just tried to jump as high as I can and get a hand on the ball and luckily it went in. I guess I saved my best play for the last second of the game. I'm just happy to get a win, it's a great team effort."

Western Michigan started a brand new starting lineup with Andre Ricks, Derek Fracalossi, Donald Cloutier and Wes deVries earning their first career starts. Derek Drews rounded out the starting lineup with the third start of his career. The Broncos fell behind early, 6-2, but when the normal starters came in  three minutes into the game they helped spark a 16-0 run that put the Broncos up 12, 18-6, with 11:45 remaining.

"I was upset with the way we stopped playing in the second half (against Colorado State)," Hawkins said about benching his normal starters.  

The Broncos still led by 12, 26-14, with 7:09 remaining when Loyola Marymount went on a 16-5 run over the final 6:58, including 7-of-10 free throw shooting in the final 3:59, to cut the margin to one, 31-30, at halftime.

The Lions took the lead on the first possession of the second half on a backdoor layup by Brandon Worthy, but Derek Drews scored three straight points to put the Broncos back up. LMU came back and took the lead, 35-34, with 16:03 remaining on a free throw and then went on a 10-0 run over 2:15 to earn its first double-digit lead, 47-36, with 12:31 remaining.

The Broncos kept fighting, but still trailed by eight, 54-46, with 6:01 remaining when Ricks ignited a rally. He assisted on a jumper by Andrew Hershberger and then hit a three-pointer of his own to cut the lead to three, 54-51. The Broncos tied the game on the next possession on a Snider three-pointer, his only field goal of the game.

The Lions went back up three, but the Broncos tied the game again on a Bufford three-ball. An LMU free throw put them back up one, but Ricks stepped up again and hit a jumper with 1:22 left in the game to give WMU the lead, 59-58.

"I can't say enough about Andre Ricks coming in and stepping up and taking the lid off the basket for us," Hawkins said. "He really did a nice job offensively and that was something we really needed."

The Lions took the lead right back, 60-59, on a running hook shot by Dustin Brown followed by a Bronco miss with :15 remaining. The Broncos then fouled John Montgomery to set up the game's final sequence.

Bufford led the Broncos with his fifth-straight double-figure scoring game, finishing with 18 points. Ricks scored a career-high 10 points to go along with two assists and two steals. Fracalossi also had a career high with seven points. Reitz and Hershberger each pulled down 11 rebounds to help the Broncos win the rebounding battle, 46-36.

Western Michigan converted 25 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points and 19 turnovers into 22 points. The Broncos struggled from the field hitting only 34.4 percent of their shots and just 12-of-25 free throws, but they limited to the Lions to 18 fewer shot attempts (64-46) and 34.8 percent shooting.

Chris Ayer led LMU with 21 points and 10 rebounds.