BOX SCORE
GAME QUOTES
KALAMAZOO - The Western Michigan Broncos (1-3) won their eighth straight home opener at University Arena Tuesday night, 71-58, when the University of Detroit Titans (0-2) traveled to town. Senior Shawntes Gary recorded his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
Junior David Kool also added 16 points to the Broncos' total and went 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Junior Donald Lawson chipped in ten points and four rebounds and threw down a two-handed dunk in the first half. Seniors Michael Redell and Derek Drews added nine points and eight points, respectively.
As a team the Broncos blocked seven Titans shots, with true freshman LaMarcus Lowe recording a career-high three blocks, all of which came in the first half.
The Broncos got out to a hot start after Kool hit a short-range runner and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions, giving WMU a six point lead at the 14:55 mark in the first half. UDM had a run of its own run to tie the game back up, but the lead would change seven more times before the half was over.
Gary made a circus up and under reverse lay-up with just under a minute left in the half to put the Broncos up by one, 27-26, but a Nemanja Jokic three-pointer with four seconds left gave the Titans the lead at halftime, 29-27.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half, and neither team could break away without a counter attack from the opponent.
But it was when Detroit started sending the Broncos to the free throw line when WMU was able to finally to build a solid lead. In the second half, the Broncos went 27-of-34 from the charity stripe compared to just eight free throw attempts in the first half.
Kool knocked down a pair of free throws at the 16:53 mark, which gave the Broncos a two-point edge, 35-33, and WMU wouldn't give up the lead for the rest of the game. Kool hit another pair of clutch free throws to put the Broncos up by six with seven minutes remaining in the game, and that was as close as the Titans got for the rest of the game.
The Brown & Gold ended the final 2:30 on a 12-5 run, with six of those points coming off free throws from Gary.
UDM junior Xavier Keeling and freshman Donavan Foster each had 12 points in the contest, and Keeling was just one rebound away from a double-double.
The Broncos will host Loyola (Ill.) Saturday, Nov. 22 at University Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
