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KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? Western Michigan overcame an eight-point second-half deficit, grabbing the lead for good with 4:22 remaining, to outlast Ohio, 65-62, at University Arena on Sunday afternoon. Joe Reitz set career highs in points, field goals and free throws in the home victory. The win was also the 100th for head coach Steve Hawkins and assistant coach Clayton Bates since they joined the team together as assistants prior to the 2000-01 season.
The Broncos (10-13, 7-6 MAC) needed a win to pull to within a half-game of Northern Illinois, which lost to Kent State, 67-55, on Sunday. Standing in their way was Ohio (13-7, 7-5 MAC), a team that handed WMU an 87-55 loss at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio on Dec. 30. The Bobcats were also fresh off a 78-67 home win over NIU.
"This is just a huge win," Reitz said. "In the last four minutes we just really stepped up and made plays. They beat us by 32 and we thought they may have run it up on us. That's something, as a competitor, that really burns inside of you when you get another chance to play a team, especially on your home court in front of your home fans."
Both teams battled throughout the first 20 minutes with Western Michigan taking a 10-point lead, its largest of the day, on a Reitz lay up at the 9:26 mark. Reitz poured in a career-high 31 points on a career-best 10 field goals and 11 free throws. That would be the last field goal WMU would make until a Derek Fracalossi jumper with 4:58 remaining before the break.
"When you are shooting a lot of open layups off great passes from your guards it's pretty easy to go 10-of-12," Reitz said. "I've got to give the credit to my teammates because they did a good job of looking for me all game and getting me the ball in situations where I can score."
By that time, Ohio had cut the lead to four, 22-18, using a 9-0 run. Ohio's Sonny Troutman, who led his team with 15 points, did most of his damage in the first half and in this run. He had 12 points in the first stanza but was held to just three points in the second.
Ohio took its first lead on an Antonio Chatman trey at the 4:15 mark to go up, 24-22. The Bobcats were 5-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first half. WMU entered halftime down three, 30-27. Ohio's lead ballooned to its largest, eight points, when Jerome Tillman hit a lay up at the 17:09 mark to make it 38-30 in favor of the Bobcats.
Over the next seven minutes, the Broncos used a 16-7 run to take their first lead since the 4:41 mark of the first half. Western Michigan did in the Bobcats with a heavy dose of layups and free throws during the run. WMU finished the day with 38 points in the paint to Ohio's 20 and was a near-perfect 12-for-13 from the charity stripe in the second half.
Brian Snider, who finished one assist shy of a career high with eight dimes, scored a layup. Shawntes Gary followed with another layup. After a Bobcat three-pointer, Reitz and Fracalossi followed with a layup and three-point field goal, respectively. Trailing 45-41, Reitz took matters into his own hands, scoring the games next seven points to give his Broncos a 48-45 advantage with 9:30 remaining.
Ohio took the lead back, 51-50, on a pair of Jeff Halbert free throws at the 7:21 mark, but Gary knocked down a layup on the next possession to give WMU the edge at 52-51. Leon Williams gave Ohio the lead again on a free throw, 53-52, and the Broncos again answered taking it back, 54-53, a minute later on a Reitz layup.
"Joe played a tremendous game going up against two of the stronger post players in the conference," head coach Steve Hawkins said. "One person I really want to point out, though, was Stane's (Bufford). We don't run a lot of plays for Stane's, especially against a zone, but he might have had the two biggest plays of the game on his tip-in (gave the Broncos a three-point lead, 56-53, with 3:25 to go) and picking up the charging foul on Williams that fouled him out of the game."
Western Michigan would not relinquish the lead again, building its advantage to five points twice. Despite WMU hitting 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch, the Bobcats trailed by three in the waning seconds but Chatman's last shot drew all iron and careened harmlessly to the floor.
It was the first time this season Western Michigan had trailed at the half and come back to win the game this season. It also marked only the second game this season where the Broncos had just one player in double figures.
WMU hosts Eastern Michigan on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. It is the first of three conference home games remaining on the schedule. With Northern Illinois idle on Wednesday night, the Broncos could move into a first place time in the MAC West with a win. The battle with the Eagles can be heard live on WFAT - 96.5 FM, the Bronco Radio Network.
