BOX SCORE
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Although Western Michigan was led behind the scoring of David Kool with game-high 24 points followed by Shawntes Gary with a season-high 20 points, the Broncos fell short to archrival Central Michigan, 72-68, in Mount Pleasant at Rose Arena in front of 1,178.
The Broncos (18-11, 11-4 MAC) were down 10 points to Central Michigan (13-15, 8-7 MAC) with 4:44 remaining in the second half, 66-56, until Kool took Western Michigan on a 12-5 run scoring nine points sandwiched around a shot from behind the three-point arc by Andre Ricks, to bring the Brown and Gold behind by only three points, 71-68, with 1:46 remaining in the game.
Both teams entered a scoring drought the remainder of the game with only Central Michigan's Robbie Harman shooting 1-for-2 within the last three seconds of play ending with a Central Michigan victory over the Broncos, 72-68.
Western Michigan was first on the board starting with a 5-2 run but the Chippewas battled back tieing the score three times within the first 10:17 in the first half at 11 all until Joe Reitz added a layup followed by shooting 2-for-2 from the foul line to send the Broncos on a 12-0 run taking the biggest lead of the game, 23-11, with 6:19 remaining on the clock.
Central Michigan fought back hard going on their own 10-0 run, 23-21, until Ricks stopped the Broncos 3:08 scoring drought with a jumper to keep the Western Michigan lead by four points but it was the Chippewas that added the final four points to the board to enter the locker room tied with the Broncos at 25 all.
Again the Broncos are on the board first starting the second half with Gary shooting 2-for-2 from the foul line followed by a layup from Kool but was quickly silenced after Central Michigan added five quick points sandwiched around a jumper from Gary to take the lead, 32-31, with 17:05 remaining in the half.
Both teams traded the lead one more time until Central Michigan went on an 11-1 run to bring the Chippewas into their biggest lead of the game, 44-34, with 11:46 remaining.
Kool led the game with a game-high 24 points shooting 13-for-16 from the line adding a career high in attempts, followed by Gary with a season-high 20 points and tied his career-high with eight free throws made from nine attempts. Reitz also entered double-figures with 10 points which enters him in third place in career scoring with a total of 1,669.
Central Michigan was led behind the scoring of Harman with 18 points, Giordan Watson with 17 points and Jordan Bitzer with 13 points.
Western Michigan ends their four-game road stretch hosting Ball State on Senior Night at University Arena Sunday, March 9 at 2 p.m.
