Box Score
Season Stats
CLEVELAND -- David Kool scored 14 points, including 9-of-10 free throws, to lead No. 6 Western Michigan over No. 11 Northern Illinois, 67-62, in the first round of the 2007 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Broncos (16-15, 9-7 MAC) led by five at halftime, 30-25, but the Huskies (7-23, 4-12 MAC) opened the second half on a 7-3 run to pull within one point, 33-32, on a Shaun Logan three-pointer with 16:22 to go. Western Michigan answered with a 16-4 run over the next 7:16 to build its largest lead of the game, 49-36, with 8:41 remaining.
Northern Illinois scored the next four points, but WMU scored on a jumper by Joe Reitz in the paint and a pair of Michael Redell free throws to go back up by 13 points, 53-40, with only 5:57 to go.
The Huskies would not go quietly as they fought back to within three points, 63-60, on a Cody Yelder layup with 11 seconds remaining, but Kool hit four straight free throws to keep the Broncos in front and advancing to the quarterfinals.
NIU took the early lead on a free throw 10 seconds into the game, but Kool scored on a layup on the Broncos' first possession and hit a three-pointer on the second possession. Derek Drews canned a jumper on the third possession after a steal by Kool to put WMU up 7-1. The Broncos never trailed again.
The Broncos had their lead cut to one, 15-14, with 8:22 to go in the half and three WMU starters on the bench with two fouls when the bench took over. WMU went on a 10-0 run with the two oldest Broncos, Andrew Hershberger and Silver Laku, scoring on layups, followed by the two youngest Broncos, Donald Lawson and Martelle McLemore, scoring on putbacks.
The Broncos saw eleven players play and all eleven players scored to help WMU outscore NIU, 20-6, in second chance points.
Joe Reitz picked up his 10th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Reitz had a double-double in all three games against Northern Illinois this season. Shawntes Gary added 10 points, including 8-of-8 free throws. McLemore pulled down a career-high six rebounds in eight minutes and Lawson rejected a career-high three shots in nine minutes. Lawson helped the Broncos to a season-high seven blocks and the team also notched 11 steals to lead 23-13 in points off turnovers.
WMU shot only 35.2% (19-54), but held NIU to just 35.4% (23-65) shooting. The Broncos made up for their misfires by hitting 27-of-35 free throws to only 12-of-20 for NIU.
The Broncos now advance to the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament to play No. 3 Kent State at 9 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be televised on Comcast Local and FSN Ohio.
QUOTES
WMU head coach Steve Hawkins
(On the game) "Obviously at this point in time it's really about winning and moving on, no matter how you do it. When some of our players that normally have carried us didn't have their A-game tonight we had some incredible performances I thought off the bench. Donald Lawson came in and blocked quite a few shots and bothered some others. Martelle McLemore came in. Our two freshmen just did a heck of a job for us chasing down 50-50 balls and picking up some garbage. Silver Laku came in and gave us some good minutes as well as Andrew Hershberger.
"It was a good team win. I see the value in a great bench coming in and giving us good minutes and picking up a win against a Northern team that obviously had a lot of fight in it all the way to the end."
WMU center Joe Reitz
(On the win) "I mean this is huge. If it's a pretty win, if it's an ugly win, if you win by 20, if you win by one, bottom line is we are advancing to tomorrow night. We went from 12 and now there are going to be eight teams playing tomorrow. The question is will we be one of the four playing on Friday. I think we'll be much more relaxed tomorrow night when we take the floor against Kent State."
