Box Score

Overall Stats

KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? The 2006 edition of BracketBusters Saturday broke the hearts of Bronco fans as Indiana State sank a jumper with 0:00.6 left on the clock to defeat WMU, 59-57, at University Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Western Michigan (11-14) held the lead for 39:00.4 minutes of its battle with Indiana State (12-13), but the Sycamores from the Missouri Valley Conference hung around the entire second half, chopping the Bronco lead down to three points on two occasions and finally tying the game at 57 on a Jay Tunnell free throw.  The decisive shot came two minutes, 54.4 seconds later when David Moss nailed a jumper from the right elbow to give him a team-high 17 points.

"It hurts to lead a game for 39 minutes and not get the win, but you have to give Indiana State a lot of credit for sticking in there and playing a persistent game," head coach Steve Hawkins said.  

WMU controlled the action during the first 20 minutes, out-pointing ISU 16-8 in the paint, 11-5 off turnovers and 14-5 off the bench.  The Broncos built a 10-6 lead early thanks in part to an Indiana State field goal drought that lasted 4:51.  WMU took an eight-point advantage into the locker room, 36-28.

The home team built its largest lead of the game during the first five minutes of the second half, going up 44-31 on a Stane's Bufford lay up at the 15:03 mark.  From there, ISU went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 46-43. The Broncos had chances to put the game away, but were thwarted by 8-of-16 free throw shooting, including 7-of-13 in the second half.

"We went stagnant offensively and had some empty trips, I thought that's what it came down to," Hawkins said. "We wouldn't be talking about this if we hit our free throws. We would be talking about a three, four, five-point win and how the Broncos gutted another one out at the end." 

Joe Reitz scored four straight points to give the Broncos breathing room but his lay up at the 7:07 mark was the first field goal for WMU since 15:03 showed on the clock in the second half.  Reitz finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line.  It was the third-straight game the sophomore scored 20 or more points in a game.

Western Michigan built its lead back up to seven points with 5:53 remaining but managed only three field goals the rest of the way as the Sycamores closed out the contest on a 14-7 run.

WMU, still in first place in the West Division, resumes Mid-American Conference play on Feb. 22, traveling to Muncie, Ind., to face Ball State at 7 p.m.  The game can be heard live on WFAT ? 96.5 FM, the Bronco Radio Network.