Box Score
Season Statistics
KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? For the second game in a row, the fans at University Arena were treated to a classic as Western Michigan pulled out a 67-64 win over Eastern Michigan on Brian Snider's three-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining. The victory pulls the Broncos into a first-place MAC West Division tie with idle Northern Illinois.
"It's obviously a tremendously hard fought game and both teams slugged it out in the middle of the ring," head coach Steve Hawkins said. "You've got to give Eastern a tremendous amount of credit. They played very well. I feel very fortunate to win against a very good Eastern team that is playing well right now."
The lead changed hands 11 times in the second half alone as WMU (11-13, 8-6 MAC) and EMU (5-17, 2-12 MAC) battled back and forth down the stretch. The deciding possession began with Shawntes Gary dribbling at the top of the key. He moved to his right, spun and found Snider in the corner. The 6-foot-6 senior caught and shot with a hand in his face and falling out of bounds. It was only the second trey Snider made in five attempts throughout the contest.
"The ball almost went over my head on the pass, so I had to force it up," Snider said. "It felt good when it left (my hand)."
"We called the timeout and Brian walked by me and said, 'I want to be involved in this,'" Hawkins said. "We tried to get him on dribble penetration, but he had to save the ball and he didn't have much more time than to take the shot that he did. We want the ball in Brian's hand and we trust his decision-making in late game situations. He made the correct decision to not drive the ball and take the shot."
The first half ended with the excitement of the second as Snider hooked up with Stane's Bufford on an alley-oop as time expired. The fast break dunk, Bufford's second of the game gave the Broncos a 36-28 lead heading into the locker room. Bufford's first slam of the night came on the heels of one his career-matching four steals in the first half. Bufford ended his night with 13 points, one of two Broncos in double figures.
WMU built its lead to 10, its largest, to open the second stanza but the Eagles used a 14-5 run to pull within one, 43-42, on a Carlos Medlock three-pointer at the 13:15 mark. Medlock tied a career high with six three-point field goals, hitting all six attempts and finishing with 20 points, leading his team.
Eastern Michigan took its first lead since the 3:45 mark of the first half on a John Bowler dunk. Bowler was the second of two Eagles to finish in double figures, closing out his night with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. EMU built its largest lead, four points, on a Bowler lay up, giving the Eagles a 51-47 advantage with 10:11 left on the clock. The Broncos then went on a 7-2 run to take the lead back at 54-53. Joe Reitz, who finished with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, scored five of the seven points, during the run, hitting a pair of lay ups and free throw.
After jockeying for the advantage on the scoreboard for four minutes, Bufford tied the score at 61 on a jumper at the 4:06 mark. Then the scoring stopped. Neither team mustered a point for the next 2:24 of game time until Bowler knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:42 remaining. Travis Lewis tied the game for the final time with his only point of the night, hitting a free throw with 21.1 ticks remaining.
Western Michigan enjoyed a comfortable first half, out-rebounding its opponent 8-2 on the offensive glass and outscoring the Eagles 10-2 on second chance points. One other area the Broncos held their own was on fast break opportunities, out-pointing their opponent, 14-0.
WMU's win not only pulls the Broncos even with Northern Illinois atop the MAC West standings, it also secured the inaugural Michigan MAC Men's Basketball Championship sponsored by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
The Broncos take a break from conference action to welcome Indiana State to University Arena at 2 p.m. on Feb. 18, BracketBusters Saturday. The game can be heard live on WFAT ? 96.5 FM, the Bronco Radio Network. WMU resumes conference play at Ball State on Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.
