BOX SCORE

SEASON STATISTICS 

KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan fell to Northwestern in the final seconds, 65-63, in front of 4,112 at University Arena Saturday afternoon.

Derek Drews was able to end the Broncos (4-5) 5:25 scoring drought to tie the score, 40-40, with 10:09 left in the game but the Wildcats (4-4) continued to battle with the Broncos back and forth until a three-pointer by Jason Okrzesik would send the Wildcats into the lead for good, 50-48.

Joe Reitz and Michael Redell were brought to the line converting 4-for-4 which tied the score, 53-53, but again Northwestern answered back with a jumper from Sterling Williams followed by a three-pointer by Craig Moore to build their biggest lead, 58-53.

Reitz was again brought to the line making 2-of-2 with 33.8 seconds left on the clock followed by the Wildcats' Okrzesik converted two points behind the free throw line, but David Kool stepped in to bring the Broncos within two points after scoring from behind the arc, 60-58.

Northwestern again took the lead to four points after two made free throws by Moore, but Kool again answered back with another three-pointer with seven seconds left in the game, 64-63.

With the Broncos having to immediately foul to try and regain control of the ball, they sent Moore back to the line and he only made 1-of-2.

The Broncos inbounded the ball to Kool with five seconds remaining, but the Broncos were unable to get a shot off to tie or win the game.

The Broncos started off strong in the first half going on a 16-4 run against Northwestern to take their biggest lead of the game, 22-7. From that point forward, Northwestern outscored the Broncos 24-8 to take a one-point lead, 31-30, into the locker room on Moore's three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

After half time, Drews made a shot from behind the arc bringing the Broncos back into the lead, 33-31, on their first offensive possesion, until Moore made a layup two minutes later to tie the game for the third time. The teams battled with two ties and one lead change, until Jeff Ryan made a layup to bring the Wildcats back into the lead, 40-38, with 10:09 to go. 

Northwestern hit 50.0 percent (23-46) of their shots, including 12-of-27 behind the arc, while WMU hit 47.7 percent (21-44) and 9-of-21 three-pointers. The Broncos also had the advantage at the free throw line (12-of-16 to 7-of-9) and a decisive advantage on the glass with a 35-12 rebounding advantage that led to a 12-0 edge in second-chance points.

The Wildcats had only five turnovers, while the Broncos had 14 turnovers that led to a 10-2 advantage in points off turnovers for the Wildcats.

Reitz scored 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Broncos, while Drews and Kool both followed with 13 points each.

Northwestern's lead scorer Moore scored 24 points, followed by Okrzesik with 14 and Michael Thompson with 11 points.

Western Michigan heads to Indianapolis to take on IUPUI on Saturday, Dec. 15th at 7 p.m.