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KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? Joe Reitz sunk seven shots from the charity stripe and Brian Snider picked Miami's pocket for an uncontested layup to secure Western Michigan's 59-50 win over Miami on Saturday at University Arena, sending the Redhawks back to Oxford, Ohio, with their first conference loss.
The Broncos' (5-11, 2-4 MAC) 34-21 halftime lead shrunk throughout the second half but never disappeared. Miami (9-6, 6-1 MAC) pulled to within one point on two occasions, once on a Tim Pollitz layup at the 7:57 mark to make it 42-41. The Redhawks' William Hatcher, Miami's leading scorer with 19 points, pulled his team back to within one on a jumper with 4:02 remaining.
The next Bronco point would be a microcosm of the team's final three minutes, 47 seconds. Reitz stepped to the line and sunk the first of his seven free throws to ice the game. He had not made it to the line previously but showed confidence, failing on only one attempt (his last with the Broncos up nine). His seven free throws, along with 6-of-10 shooting from the field gave him a team-high 19 points. His five rebounds were bested by Andrew Hershberger's eight boards, all defensive, but they left him one shy of 300 for his career.
"You get to the last four minutes and you've got a typical MAC basketball game," head coach Steve Hawkins said. "You've got a one-point game and it's all about exhibiting mental toughness at that point in time and our kids really did that."
"They made their little run, but we didn't get down," freshman guard Shawntes Gary said. "We kept playing hard and with high energy and that's what kept us in the game and helped us bring the lead back up."
Reitz scored nine of WMU's final 11 points during the final 3:47 of game time. Snider scored the other field goal in dramatic fashion. Having led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, he had been held scoreless the first 19:09 of the second frame. After Reitz missed a shot in the paint, Snider stole Nathan Peavy's outlet pass off the rebound and took one step before scoring a layup to finish with 14 points on the day. The swipe and score put the Broncos up six, 56-50, with 51 seconds remaining.
"Tonight we responded well when it counted," Reitz said "That steal Brian had was huge.It feels really good to get a win here at home."
"I think we've been playing better the past couple of games, but today we were able to stick together and make some big plays down the stretch," Snider said. "I think that shows how this team has grown up as the year has gone on."
The first half began well for the visiting Redhawks, taking a 9-2 lead in the early going. Stane's Bufford gave WMU its first lead of the day on a jumper at the 9:54 mark and put an exclamation point on the Broncos' comeback with a fast break dunk 46 seconds later. Bufford joined Reitz and Snider in double figures with 10 points. Reitz capped Western Michigan's 12-2 run with a jump hook with 8:35 remaining in the first half.
WMU scored the stanza's final seven points to take a 13-point lead into the locker room. Derek Drews sunk a free throw and Snider followed with a jumper, three-pointer and free throw in succession to finish the frame.
"Hats off to Western," Miami head coach Charlie Coles said. "We played against a very good ball club today. They were on their mark and weren't going to lose today. Simple as that."
Western Michigan looks to make it two in a row when the team travels to Ypsilanti to take on Eastern Michigan on Jan. 24. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Broncos return to University Arena with a tilt against MAC West rival Ball State on Jan. 26. Both games can be heard on the Bronco Radio Network and WMU's game against the Eagles can be seen on Comcast Local and the game agains the Cardinals can be seen by subscribing to the Bronco Insider.
