BOX SCORE
KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan's defense held strong against Ball State to end the regular season with a victory, 57-53, Sunday at University Arena in front of the largest crowd of the season 4,546 on Senior Night.
The Broncos (19-11, 12-4 MAC) were ahead by as many as eight points early in the second half, 42-34, but after a 12-3 run from Ball State (6-23, 5-11 MAC), the Cardinals had tied the game with 7:12 remaining, 45-45.
Ball State took their biggest lead of the second half, 53-50 with 2:23 on the clock, after Anthony Newell added a shot from behind the three-point arc but only 24 seconds later, Joe Reitz added his own old fashioned three-point play to send the Broncos on a 7-0 run with Reitz and Michael Redell shooting 5-for-5 from the foul line, to end the game in a Brown and Gold victory over Ball State, 57-53. Western Michigan's defense held Ball State to shooting only 6-for-18 field goals (33.3 percent) and 0-for-2 from behind the arc in the second half.
The Cardinals started the game out with a 5-0 run but did not stand long after the Broncos came right back with their own 7-0 run. After Malik Perry shot 2-for-2 from the foul line to tie the score, Western Michigan went again on a 5-2 run to go ahead 12-9 with 14:55 remaining in the first half.
The Brown and Gold took their largest lead of the game after Andrew Hershberger added 1-for-2 from the foul line followed by a Reitz layup and a shot from behind the arc from David Kool, 24-16, with 7:09 to go.
Both teams continued to trade baskets until Ball State was able to tie the score at 32 all with 44 seconds remaining in the half after a jumper from Newell but after a steal from Derek Fracalossi followed by a quick jumper, Western Michigan regained the lead before heading into the locker room, 34-32.
The Broncos started the second half going on a 8-2 run with Ball State unable to connect on a field goal in the first 4:51 until Newell added a shot from behind the arc, 42-37, with 15:09 left to play in the game.
Kool led the Broncos tied for a game-high 19 points followed by Reitz with 14 points.
Tied for a game-high Newell also had 19 points and six rebound for Ball State followed by Perry with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Western Michigan ended the regular season with a Mid-American Conference West title and head to the MAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Broncos will take on either No. 7 Eastern Michigan or No. 10 Ball State with tip-off at noon on Thursday, March 13 and will be nationally televised on FSN Ohio.
