Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. - David Kool became the 34th Bronco to reach 1,000 career points with 22 to lead Western Michigan, tying Booker James as the fastet Broncos to reach the mark, doing it in the 69th game of his career. The milestone was not enough as the Broncos fell to Virginia Commonwealth, 79-62, in front of nearly 4,500 fans at the Siegel Center.

WMU's shot at a road win against a very talented team hinged on the last minute and a half of the first half and the first five minutes of the second as VCU closed out the first frame and opened the second, going 10-for-10 to stretch a two-point lead to a 51-30 gap, the Rams' largest of the night, at the 14:52 mark of the second half.

Both teams had the hot hand in the second half with Western Michigan's 48.3 percent from the floor being overshadowed by the Rams' 60 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes. VCU had two other players join Maynor in double figures with Kirill Pishchalnikov scoring 15 and Joey Rodriguez adding 17. WMU's bench outscored VCU's, 14-8.

The Broncos did not pack things up at that point, in fact, WMU cut the lead all the way down to six points with 5:11 remaining after trailing by 19 with 8:59 to go. Western Michigan cut into the lead thanks to a 16-2 run get it to a manageable 57-63 deficit. Seven points from Kool during the run and an emphatic dunk by Donald Lawson closed the gap but VCU's star guard Eric Maynor took over en route to a game best 29 points, pushing the lead back to double digits on a pair of free throws and a layup. Maynor put the Rams up by more than 10 points for good on a jumper with 2:28 left in the game.

Freshman Flenard Whitfield scored in double digits for the third time this season, finishing with 10 on 5-of-10 shooting. He was the Broncos' offense to start the second half, making the team's first six points. Derek Drews joined Whitfield and Kool in double digits with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc.

The first half was one dominated by scoring runs as Western Michigan answered the Rams' 6-0 run to open the game with an 8-0 run of its own over a span of two minutes, 55 seconds mid way through the half. Kool hit the first of his two first-half three-pointers to pull the Broncos within a pair at the 7:55 mark and Drews followed with a trey of his own to give WMU its first lead of the game, 16-15.

WMU held VCU scoreless for four minutes, 16 seconds to make the mini-comeback after starting two possessions down. Whitfield put the Broncos on the board with a short jumper at the 16:29 mark, one of only two field goal attempts for Whitfield during the first 20 minutes.

The Rams grabbed the lead back on a layup from Pishchalnikov but the Broncos would answer in the form of five-straight points from Kool to put them back up, 21-20, at the 2:41 mark. At the final media time out, both teams were shooting an identical 36.4 percent from the field but the Rams warmed things up during the final 1:26 of game time in the half, ending it on the game's second 8-0 run to take a 31-21 lead, its largest to that point, into the locker room.

VCU ended the half shooting 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from the floor, while WMU dipped to 30.0 percent (9-for-30). Maynor was the lone double-figure scorer (14) of the first half.

Western Michigan (2-6) regroup and get back on the court in Worcester, Mass., when the Broncos take on Holy Cross (2-6) on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.  Fans can hear all the action on the Bronco Radio Network with Robin Hook.