BOX SCORE

SEASON STATS 

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Western Michigan opened up 2008 by holding North Carolina Central to 30-percent shooting en route to a 79-43 defeat of the Eagles in front of 2,832 fans at University Arena on Wednesday night.

Sophomore gaurd David Kool led the Broncos (6-7) with a game-high 17 points and hit a career-high five three-pointers. Kool also set a career-high with 11 three point attempts. Junior forward Derek Drews pitched in 13 points and senior center Joe Reitz scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Junior point gaurd Mike Redell scored seven points and dished out a career-high 10 assists to notch only the 10th double-digit assist game in Western Michigan history. Sophomore center Donald Lawson tied a career high with six rebounds and set a new career high with five blocked shots. Junior guard Andre Ricks scored all seven of his points in the second half. All 12 players saw at least four minutes on the court and 11 scored to give WMU a 27-6 advantage in points off the bench.

The Bronco defense was stellar, posting a season-high nine blocked shots and a season-high 10 steals and forcing 21 turnovers. For the first time since the 2004-05 season, the Broncos have held two opponents under 50 points. The other coming in a 57-41 win over Southern Illinois. WMU held NCCU (1-18) to 29-percent shooting in the second half.

The Broncos started out slowly, only hitting on four field goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. A Redell three-pointer ended a four minute scoring drought for the Broncos to extend their lead, 12-7, with 8:08 remaining the the half. North Carolina Central would answer back and end a five minute scoring drought with a 7-0 run on buckets by J'Mell Walters and Marius Vaskys and a three-pointer from Charles Futrell to give them the lead, 17-16. WMU answered back with back-to-back-to-back-to-back three pointers by Fracalosi, Kool, and a pair from Drews to give the Broncos a 28-17 lead at the half.

Western Michigan built on their lead early in the second half with a 9-0 run to push the score to 39-21 and then minutes later added an 8-0 run to give the Broncos a 24-point lead, 47-23. WMU continued to push out their lead, the largest coming after a Ricks layup that put the Broncos up 36, 77-41, with 2:36 remaining.

The Broncos shot 50-percent in the second half and were able to connect on 18-of-23 free throws and nearly doubled their offensive output from the first half, scoring 51 points.

The Broncos also dominated on the glass with a 42-25 advantage that led to a 16-5 edge in second-chance points. The Broncos also outscored NCCU 18-8 on the fast break.

Bryan Ayala led the Eagles with 15 points and Charles Futrell contributed 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Western Michigan opens up its Mid-American Conference schedule on Saturday, Jan. 5 against Northern Illinois at 2 p.m.

QUOTES

WMU senior center Joe Reitz

(On the team's performance tonight)
"I feel really good and I think the rest of the team feels the same way as I do. We played a game tonight where we got to get the rust off a little bit. Now we're going into MAC play and MAC play is going to be an all-out two-month war. I think tonight was a really good game to get us ready and tuned up for Saturday. I think we did a good job, especially the last four minutes of the first half and the whole second half of really playing Bronco Basketball, defending well, getting out and running, getting good shots and knocking down our shots."

(On MAC play starting Saturday)
"There's definitely a big difference between non-conference and conference play and I think the MAC is one of the toughest conferences to win year in and year out and that's why nobody repeats in the MAC. I like our mindset in that our goal all year has been to win a MAC championship and right now the slate's clean. Come Saturday, that's a huge game and every game after that there's no little games in MAC play. Every game is very, very important."

WMU sophomore guard David Kool

(On being more aggressive offensively)
"I think me looking for my shot is a good thing for us cause I'm one of the better shooters that we have. If I have open shots I've got to let it go. I can't hesitate and not take them because that brings us all down and I've got to be one of our shot-takers and shot-makers."

(On MAC play starting Saturday)
"I think we just tried to look at our pre-conference schedule as getting the kinks out. I think we came out here and played well in the second half and got after it defensively. I think it's just a fresh start for us and we're 1-0 on the new year."

WMU head coach Steve Hawkins

(On the game)
"I thought the second half was a lot better than the first half. The first half we came out a little sluggish, especially offensively. Defensively, the effort was pretty good throughout the majority of the game. Really in the last five to seven minutes of the first half and then all the way through the second half we became a lot more aggressive against the zone and against the man. I thought that was a big part of things and the defense was there the majority of the game."

(On the play of David Kool)
"He was looking to score a lot more. Even though he put up a couple of shots that just glanced off the rim, I don't care. We've got to have him look to be aggressive offensively. He's one of our scorers, he's got a knack for getting the ball in the basket."

(On MAC play starting Saturday)
"Coming off of tonight we feel good. This is the reason you play this kind of game, you would've hated to play the first 10 minutes of this game against Northern Illinois. You get that out of the way. I thought we were able to get our game legs and a lot of players were able to get some offensive production and individually they feel good going into the next two days. Tonight really served its purpose."