BOX SCORE

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Derek Drews hit a three-pointer with eight seconds remaining to break a 62-all tie and lead Western Michigan past Sam Houston State, 65-62, in front of 1,262 at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum on Tuesday night.

The Bearkats (1-3) came back down court, but Ashton Mitchell's three-pointer was off line and the Broncos (2-4) survived a 25-6 free throw attempt disparity and 22-13 foul discrepancy against a team that entered the season with a 45-game non-conference winning streak at home.

Drews finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, while senior Shawntes Gary led the Broncos with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Junior Martelle McLemore hit 4-of-5 from the floor, including all three three-pointers, to tie his career high with 11 points.

The Broncos shot 50.0 percent from the field (26-52) and hit 9-of-20 three-pointers, while holding SHSU to 35.2 percent shooting (19-54) and 4-of-20 behind the arc. The Bearkats hung around with 20-of-25 free throw shooting, while WMU hit 4-of-6.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Drews and Michael Redell opened the scoring for WMU, but the Bearkats came back to score 10 straight and take the lead, 10-6. Back-to-back scores by Gary evened the score, but SHSU went back on top with a pair of free throws.

Five-straight points from McLemore and a layup from Flenard Whitfield made up a 7-0 run for the Brown & Gold to take back the lead, 17-12, for the rest of the half. The Bearkats cut the lead to three on a couple of occassions, the final time with 9:14, 21-18, to play. The Broncos got more scoring out of Drews as he hit a three-pointer and then drove the lane and was fouled while making an acrobatic layup and he converted the layup. That was the start of a 16-4 run that saw the Broncos build their lead to as much as 15, 37-21, after back-to-back three-pointers from Redell and McLemore. Sam Houston State closed the half with five straight to account for the Broncos' 10-point, 37-27, halftime advantage.

Donald Lawson hit a short turnaround jumper to push the lead to 12, 39-27, on the opening possession of the second half and a layup by Gary put WMU up 13, 43-30, with 15:08 to play. The Bearkats scored the next five points, but a layup by Demetrius Ward, who hit the first two field goals of his career, put WMU back up 10, 45-35, with 12:48 to play. The lead was still 11, 53-42, after David Kool made his only three-pointer of the game before fouling out with 2:09 to play with seven points, three rebounds and two assists.

Sam Houston State came back and went on a 14-4 run to cut the lead to one, 57-56, with 6:19 to play. The Broncos answered with a Kool layup and Lawson putback of a shot by Kool to go back up five, 61-56, with 4:52 to play.

The Broncos didn't score again until Drews hit a free throw with 2:57 to play, but that put the Broncos back up five, 62-57. Lance Pevehouse then hit a three-pointer on the next possession for SHSU to cut it to two, 62-60, and then neither team scored for the next 2:20.

Finally, Mitchell drove the lane and was fouled with 22 seconds remaining and canned both free throws to tie the score, 62-62. That set up the final possession where the Broncos swung the ball around and Redell dished his seventh assist of the night to Drews.

Mitchell led Sam Houston State with 18 points and seven assists, while DeLuis Ramirez had 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Broncos are back at home on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. against IUPUI (2-2) at University Arena before going back on the road for three straight.