BOX SCORE
AKRON, Ohio -- David Kool led all players with 23 points and moved into a tie for 10th all-time at Western Michigan with 1,225 career points, but Akron defeated Western Michigan, 87-63, on Sunday afternoon in front of 2,504 at Rhodes Arena.
Kool added five rebounds, two steals and one assist for the Broncos (7-15, 4-5 MAC), but it wasn't enough to overcome the Zips (15-8, 6-3 MAC) and their 55.9 percent (33-59) shooting from the field. Akron also connected on 7-of-14 three-pointers and hit 63.0 percent (17-27) of its second half field goal attempts.
The Zips also notched 11 steals and forced WMU into 19 turnovers, which resulted in a 22-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Kool helped WMU build an early five-point edge, 8-3, and the Broncos were still up four, 14-10, after LaMarcus Lowe buried a 16-foot jumper with 14:25 to go. Akron responded with a 16-2 run over 3:47 to go up by 10, 26-16, with 10:22 to go in the half.
Flenard Whitfield converted an old-fashioned three-point play off a feed from Kool to start a run for the Brown & Gold. Kool rebounded a missed shot by Akron and went the distance for a layup and Muhammed Conteh converted on the inside after a feed from Michael Redell to cut the margin to three, 26-23, with 7:55 to play. Over the next two minutes, WMU held Akron scoreless, but couldn't convert with two turnovers and three missed shots.
Akron finally righted its ship and went on its second 13-0 run of the half over 3:33 to build a 16-point advantage, 39-23. Over a scoreless span of 6:11 after cutting the lead to three, Western Michigan turned the ball over five times, missed four field goals and three free throws before Kool hit a jumper with 1:44 remaining in the half. Shawntes Gary converted a layup and Kool hit two free throws with 27 seconds to go to bring WMU within 12, 41-29, at intermission.
Anthony Hitchens scored a pair of baskets to open the second half for the Zips and they didn't look back. A three-pointer, followed by a three-point play from Kool cut the lead to 13 points, 52-39, with 15:49 remaining, but WMU would get no closer. Akron came back with an 8-0 run to go up by 21, 60-39, and the Broncos never recovered.
Demetrius Ward added 11 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist, while Gary contribued 10 points. Whitfield tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds, in addition to six points.
The Broncos shot 41.3 percent (19-46), including hitting only 6-of-19 three-pointers. The Broncos did hit 19-of-27 free throws (.704) as Kool went 5-for-5 and Ward and Gary hit 4-of-5.
Akron was led by Brett McKnight with 19 points, Chris McKnight and Brett McClanahan with 13 points and 12 points from Nikola Cvetinovic.
Western Michigan returns to University Arena to play Ohio (12-10, 5-4 MAC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in University Arena.
