BOX SCORE
QUOTES
KALAMAZOO - For the first time this season, the Western Michigan (8-15, 5-5) men's
basketball team shot over 50 percent from the floor on its way to a
76-62 victory over Mid-American Conference Player of the Year favorite
Jerome Tillman and the Ohio Bobcats (12-11, 5-5) Wednesday night at
University Arena, snapping a four-game skid against MAC opponents. The
Broncos' Player of the Year hopeful, junior David Kool, scored a
game-high 24 points.
The Broncos improved their 48 percent shooting in the first half to a mind-blowing 63 percent in the second half on their way to 54 percent shooting for the game, which helped them break the game open after only a six-point lead at halftime. Kool ignited the Broncos with 16 of his points coming in the second half and junior Donald Lawson scored six of his eight points in the second half in his first game back since Dec. 30.
Senior guard Shawntes Gary, who scored 14 points and recorded three steals, hit a jumper four and a half minutes into the game to give WMU the lead, 7-5, and the Broncos didn't give up the lead for the rest of the game. The Brown & Gold went on a 19-6 run to open the second half and take its largest lead of the game, 52-37, just six minutes into the half, and Ohio couldn't get within ten points of the Broncos for the remainder of the game.
Both WMU and OU shot 10-of-20 from three-point range, and the Bobcats shot an impressive 50 percent from the floor. The only discrepancy between the teams was trips to the free throw line, a battle the Broncos won shooting 72 percent (18-of-25) compared to 66 percent (8-of-12) from Ohio.
The Broncos were able to grab nine steals and force 16 Bobcat turnovers, which they converted to into 21 points throughout the game, compared to 15 points off turnovers from the Bobcats. The WMU bench showed off its depth again as it scored 22 points, holding the edge over OU who scored just 14 points off the bench.
Ohio sophomore Tommy Freeman led the Bobcats with 20 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Tillman finished the game with 16 points in 36 minutes of play.
The Broncos will travel to Oxford, Ohio Saturday, Feb. 14 to take on the Miami Redhawks. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPNU.
