Box Score

Season Statistics

KALAMAZOO ? David Kool scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as Western Michigan beat Northern Illinois, 68-54, in front of 2,875 fans at University Arena in the final home game of the season.

The Broncos (14-15, 8-7 MAC) held the Huskies (6-22, 3-12) to 24-percent shooting in the second half to finish 11-2 at home on the season. WMU also tied its season low with eight turnovers, only one coming in the second half.

Western Michigan was down 36-34 at the half, but opened the second half on an 11-2 run to put them up 45-38 and reclaim a lead they wouldn't relinquish. WMU shortly followed that with a 15-0 run to extend their lead to 64-44. Kool had eight points during the Bronco run. Unfortunately, the Broncos wouldn't hit a field goal in the next 6:52, but were able to maintain the lead and pull off the victory.

WMU got out to an early lead to start the game, but a layup by Bristan Kelley would spark an 11-3 NIU run to push the Huskies ahead, 25-19. The Broncos were able to finish the half on a 7-0 run to pull themselves within two, 36-34, before heading to the locker room. NIU shot 55-percent in the first half, while the Broncos kept pace shooting 48-percent from the field. NIU also had 14 assists on 16 baskets in the first half, but the Bronco defense held them to just three assists on five baskets in the second half.

Joe Reitz scored 13 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season, while Derek Drews contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. Andre Ricks scored 11 points off the bench and Michael Redell did not score, but dished out 6 assists with no turnovers.

Mike McKinney led the Huskies with 16 points and six rebounds, while Shaun Logan pitched in nine points and five rebounds.

The Broncos head to Muncie, Ind., for their final game of the season against the Ball State Cardinals (9-20, 5-10 MAC) on Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m. From there, the Broncos will head to Cleveland, Ohio, for the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

 QUOTES

Northern Illinois head coach Rob Judson

(On being shut down in the second half) "I just thought Western's defense did not allow us to make those passes (to get assists), especially the extra pass we were making in the first half."

Western Michigan forward Derek Drews

(On shutting NIU down in the second half) "We came out with a lot of energy and basically we just picked it up defensively. Coach came in and said ... it just comes down to you guys fighting man-to-man. We stuck with the same gameplan we had in the first half and just executed a lot better."

Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins

(On the game) "I think that after a first half where maybe we were a little emotionally down after the Toledo game, we came back in the second half and played a lot more like ourselves. When we did not come out with a lot of fire there in the first half we saw what could happen. Thankfully for us, we cut into the lead quite a bit right before halftime and went in only down two and then in the first 14 minutes of the second half we really defended well and got after them and were able to take off and get ourselves a nice comfortable lead."

(On limiting turnovers) "The stat that really stood out to me after the game against Toledo was Shawntes, David and Mike combined for one turnover tonight. The other day they combined for whatever it was. Those three kids were probably as down as group as I've seen after a basketball game after that Toledo game, but they came back just like these kids have done all year long. They bounce back, they come into practice ready to work and had a couple of good days of practice and identified some of the areas where we went wrong and got some areas corrected tonight."

(On being a good second half team) "The first half of basketball is similar to the early rounds of a boxing match where you throw a lot of jabs and a couple of punches here and there to see if you can catch 'em. If that doesn't work, you're setting yourself up for the later rounds of the match where hopefully you can deliver a knockout blow.

"That was the case tonight. We were throwing jabs in the first half and the knockout blow came in the second half. Sometimes it's an adjustment. Sometimes it's us playing harder. Sometimes somebody catches fire. It's a little bit of everything."

(On Derek Drews attacking more inside) "He's not a bad inside player. He started backing people down and driving it a little bit more and that was really good to see. That wasn't anything we talked about, he just recognized it himself and started taking himself down a little bit lower and getting some work done down there, which is great to see."

(On David Kool's ability to sometimes take over) "He's just incredible. The kid has got a feel for the game that is just uncanny. The player that he reminds me of most that we've had here is Mike Williams from that standpoint. He just has a great feel for the game. He's got a little bit of a game you have to watch two, three, four, five times ... now that we've watched him (26) times, boy I am glad he is playing for us the next three years. He just has an uncanny ability to get to the basket and use his body well and obviously if you foul him he converts well at the free throw line. The underappreciated part of David's game is what he does defensively. He does a great job keeping the ball in front of him. It's rare that he gets beat going to the basket and he rebounds his position well. He's just a good all-around basketball player."