Box Score
CLEVELAND -- Senior Stane's Bufford scored 20 points to lead all scorers, but No. 3 Akron pulled away late to defeat No. 6 Western Michigan in the quarterfinals of the 2006 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament.
The Broncos finish the season 14-17 overall and 10-8 in the MAC.
Western Michigan was done in by Akron's rebounding and hot second half shooting. The Zips outrebounded the Broncos, 46-30, leading to a 15-5 advantage in second chance points. Akron also hit 14-of-24 shots in the second half (58.3%) after connecting on only 13-of-36 shots in the opening half.
"I was really proud of our kids effort," head coach Steve Hawkins said. "I thought we really executed well, but we couldn't keep them off the glass. That probably ended up being the difference in the game.
"Let me say this though, in 25 years of coaching college basketball I have never been as proud to have been associated with a group of kids as I am this group right here," Hawkins said. "This is what college basketball is about. We have had setback after setback and they answered the bell everytime. We've got an incredible group of kids to be around. It's been an incredible privilege to be associated with this team."
The game was tight throughout with five ties and 13 lead changes. Derek Fracalossi gave the Broncos their final lead with 14:28 remaining in the second half after hitting a three-pointer. Akron responded with a 6-0 run to take a five-point lead, 47-42, with 13:09 remaining.
WMU cut the lead back to two points, but Akron continued to string together mini-runs, finally taking a 13-point lead, 65-52, on a Dru Joyce three-pointer with 3:52 remaining.
The Broncos started aggressively in the first half, jumping out to a 9-4 lead 4:13 into the game. The lead switched back and forth until Akron went on a 7-0 run to take a six-point lead, 29-23, with 3:03 remaining in the half. Derek Drews hit a three-pointer and Joe Reitz converted on two free throws to close the half to pull WMU to within three at the break, 31-28.
Bufford was joined in double figures by Reitz with 11 points and seven rebounds. Senior Brian Snider added nine points and six assists in his final appearance for the Broncos.
Joyce led Akron with 17 points and eight rebounds while Cedrick Middleton added 13 off the bench and Romeo Travis finished with a double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Akron advances to play No. 7 Toledo in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament on Friday night.
