Box Score
Season Stats
KALAMAZOO -- Derek Fracalossi scored a career-high 19 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to lead five players in double figures in a 74-61 win over Ball State in front of 3,103 at University Arena.
Fracalossi hit a jump shot with 16:14 remaining in the second half to bring the Broncos (6-9, 1-1 MAC) within three, 39-36. That sparked a 12-2 Western Michigan run, in which the Broncos took the lead and never looked back. WMU's largest lead of the game was 15 with 43 seconds remaining in the game. The Broncos have won all five of their games this season at University Arena.
Western Michigan was able to keep it close early despite the hot hand of junior forward Skip Mills who scored the first 17 points for Ball State (4-11, 0-2 MAC) and finished with 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half. The Broncos placed Shawntes Gary on Mills in the second half and held Mills to only four points.
Western Michigan's offense shot 68 percent from the field in the second half (15-of-22), in which it out scored Ball State 47-30. Freshman David Kool had 10 of his 15 points in the second half and Redell had 10 of his 12 points in the second half, while also pitching in six assists and no turnovers. Gary finished with 12 points and six rebounds and junior center Joe Reitz contributed 10 points and seven rebounds for the Broncos.
Reitz's 10 points puts him at 1,008 for his career which makes him the 33rd player in WMU history to score 1,000 points. Kool also put himself in the Bronco record books by making four free throws, giving him 29 consecutive free-throws made, tied for second all time at WMU with Dave Anderson (1965) holding the record with 37.
The Broncos head back on the road Saturday, Jan. 13 to Savage Hall to take on the Toledo Rockets (6-8, 2-0 MAC) at 7 p.m.
QUOTES
WMU guard/forward Derek Fracalossi
(On playing so much as a player who walked on as a freshman) "I don't look at myself as a walk-on. I came in here to try and play basketball as much as the next guy. I just kept working hard and getting lucky to have the chance to play and show what I can do when my teammates help me out."
(On wearing down Ball State in the second half) "We knew they were getting tired. We picked up our defense and that's what propelled us."
WMU guard David Kool
(On the win) "This was a huge win, we needed to get the monkey off our back a little bit and get the first win in the MAC. We feel like we are a good team, we just need to keep proving it. This was an important one because going down to Toledo on Saturday isn't going to be easy."
WMU head coach Steve Hawkins
(On the game) "It's obviously a great win for us. You don't want to call it a must-win because there is so much MAC play left, but at the same time you don't want to go down 0-2 with one of those being at home and going to Toledo.
"In the second half, we were much more aggressive offensively. That was a big factor. Mike Redell was another big factor. I thought he played as good a floor game as he's played since he's been here. We made an adjustment at halftime and just put Shawntes (Gary) on Skip (Mills). He was only able to get four points in the second half and that was a huge factor."
(On Derek Fracalossi) "He's a glue guy. There's a lot of things that go on in a basketball game that the average fan doesn't know. Coaches see it, but the average fan doesn't know it. He's always in the right spot. He always picks up for somebody else's mistake. He's always in the right spot away from the ball. The scoring part of things is a bonus with Frac. He had a great floor game."
