Box Score
Season Stats
KALAMAZOO -- With five players scoring in double figures, Western Michigan defeated No. 25 Davidson, 83-76, Wednesday night in front of 3,542 fans at University Arena for the first win against a nationally-ranked team since Dec. 19, 1984 (No. 5 DePaul).
The Broncos led by 10 with 6:18 left on the clock, 65-55, but the Wildcats clawed their way back on a 15-6 run with a jumper by Davidson's Stephen Curry, leaving the Wildcats down by only one point with 2:33 left, 71-70.
David Kool answered 10 seconds later with his own three-pointer and Michael Redell converted two free throws to put the Broncos back up six, 76-70, with 82 seconds remaining.
Davidson refused to give up, but already in foul trouble with Curry fouling out with 1:22 remaining, the Wildcats brought the Broncos to the foul line five separate times within the final two minutes in the game. WMU hit 9-of-10 to ice the game and notch its third straight triumph.
Western Michigan (4-2) started off strong trading baskets back and forth with Davidson (1-2), until Redell hit Joe Reitz down low for a lay-up which sparked a 10-2 run, 15-6.
The Broncos held strong during a constant battle as Davidson fought back within three, 27-24, with 7:26 to go. Neither team scored for the next 2:26 which allowed time for Andre Ricks to set up for a three-pointer, 30-26, and increase the Broncos' lead.
Davidson answered with six immediate points sandwiched around a jumper from Derek Fracalossi before Andrew Hershberger hit Derek Drews for a three-pointer to put the Broncos up by five, sending the Brown and Gold on a 10-4 run entering the locker room with a score of 40-34 at the break.
The Broncos shot 59.1 percent for the game and 54.4 percent behind the arc (12-22), while Davidson could only connect for 45.3 percent for the game and only 29.0 percent behind the three-point line (9-of-31). The Broncos hit 19-of-29 free throws compared to Davidson's 9-of-12.
Drews led the Broncos with 18 points and Gary had a season-high 17 points along with seven rebounds and two blocks. Kool added 13 points, Redell had 11 points with a career-high tying nine assists and Reitz added 10 points with six rebounds.
Curry led Davidson with 25 points and Jason Richards added 23 points and eight rebounds.
Western Michigan heads back on the road to take on Valparaiso on Nov. 28 at 8:05 p.m.
WMU guard Michael Redell
(On his nine assists and one turnover performance)
"The biggest thing was defensively. When we get stops and get rebounds, that means we get quick outlet passes and can push the ball in transistion. I'm able to get the ball early inside to Joe and to Dave and Shawntes and the guys running the wings. It really makes offense easy when we play good defense."
(On playing against a nationally-ranked team)
"As a basketball player, that's what you look forward to, the big games, being able to rise to the occasion and be at your best when your best is needed. I think we had a lot of guys step up and do that tonight."
WMU center Joe Reitz
(On the game)
"This was a great, great win for us. There's a reason Davidson's the 25th-ranked team in the country. They are very, very good and they are going to win a lot of basketball games. I think a win like this, in front of our home crowd, shows what this team is capable of doing. I thought we played very well tonight and we still have a lot of room for improvement. When we finally play the whole game, we might of played 28-30 minutes of what we really think is good basketball, when we play 40 we'll be a scary team to deal with. I thought our guys all showed tremedous fortitude down the stretch. When Davidson came back ... we stepped up, we got stops, we got rebounds and we hit free throws down the stretch. Winning these close games is great for us in this young season and only going to make us better as a team."
WMU forward Derek Drews
(On leading WMU with 18 points)
"I just take my shots when they are there. They went down and doubled Joe and they kicked out and I was able to see some wide open shots and fortunate enough to knock them down tonight."
WMU head coach Steve Hawkins
(On the game)
"First of all, obviously the one thing that jumps out is the offensive statistics, having five guys in double figures. We seemed to have an answer offensively everytime Davidson made a run and they made plenty of them as good a basketball team as they are. More importantly, the last two and a half minutes ... we got some big stops defensively and executed offensively and did what you have to do to win close ballgames against a very good basketball team. I was really proud of our kids defensive effort tonight."
