BOX SCORE

QUOTES

NOTES

KALAMAZOO -- Donald Lawson scored a career-high 17 points with eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while David Kool scored 17 points to move into third all-time at Western Michigan in career scoring in a 70-61 victory over in-state rival Central Michigan in front of a season-high 4,656 fans at University Arena. This is the largest crowd at University Arena since a sellout on March 21, 2005 when WMU hosted TCU in the Postseason NIT.

The Broncos (10-6, 2-1 MAC) held the Chippewas (7-8, 2-1 MAC) to only 29.8 percent shooting for the game to move into a tie for second in the Mid-American Conference West with the preseason division favorites.

Kool's 17 points pushed him past former teammate and current Baltimore Raven Joe Reitz into third with 1,728 career points. Booker James is next on the list with 1,743 points, followed by Manny Newsome with 1,787.

Lawson's four blocked shots moved him into fifth all-time with 81 career rejections.

Martelle McLemore added nine points, six rebounds, career-high two blocks and two steals, while Mike Douglas hit 6-of-6 free throws on his way to eight points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals. Flenard Whitfield helped WMU's bench out-score Central Michigan with eight points, five rebounds and one block.

Trailing by 14 at halftime, the Chippewas stormed out of the locker room and hit their first three triples to cut the lead to five, 39-34, after only 96 seconds. The Broncos came back with a 7-1 run to go up by 11, 46-35, with 14:08 to play after Kool fed Lawson for a dunk and then completed a baseline spin move for a lay-up forcing Central Michigan to burn a timeout.

After a bucket by the Chippewas, the Broncos came back with six in a row on a lay-up by Kool, putback by McLemore and another driving bank shot by McLemore to go up 15, 52-37, with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Chippewas staged another rally and held WMU scoreless for 2:49 during a 10-0 run to cut the lead to five, 52-47, with 8:01 still remaining on the scoreboad. The teams traded points until Douglas and Lawson combined to hit 4-of-4 free throws and put WMU up by nine, 60-51, with 4:58 to go in the game.

The Chippewas came back with six points in a row to make it a one-possession game, 60-57, with 2:36 remaining. Lawson converted a lay-up to push the lead to five, but then CMU scored again to keep the deficit at three, 62-59, with 1:51 remaining.

The WMU defense tightened and CMU didn't score for the next 1:44 as the Broncos converted 8-of-10 free throws to salt the game away.

The Broncos scored their first four points of the game on free throws before Flenard Whitfield drove through the zone for a finger roll and then Douglas drove the lane and hit a floater to put WMU up five, 8-3, with 14:10 to play in the half. Central Michigan cut the lead to two, 10-8, but WMU came back with seven fast-break points on a three-pointer by Kool, McLemore lay-up and Kool hit a streaking Whitfield for a lay-up to put WMU up nine, 17-8, with 12:22 to go in the half. The Broncos continued to stifle CMU and built the lead to 13, 21-8, when Kool found Alex Wolf in the left corner for a three-pointer.

WMU continued to play well and pushed the lead to 15, 25-10, after Douglas fed Lawson for a lay-up on an inbounds play and WMU stayed up 15, 27-12, when Kool drove through the right wing for a lay-up with 7:57 to play in the opening half. After the media timeout, Douglas lobbed a pass over the top of the zone to Lawson for another lay-up to put WMU up 17, 29-12, with 6:57 left in the first half.

The Chippewas responded with eight consecutive points to cut the deficit to single digits, 29-20, but then Douglas hit a pair of free throws and Whitfield tipped in Douglas' missed lay-up to push the Broncos' cushion back to 13, 33-20, with 3:51 to go in the half. The Chippewas got the lead back down to nine one more time, 33-24, with 2:27 to go in the half. The Broncos rallied to score six of the next seven points, including a leaner by Kool off the glass at the buzzer to lead by 14, 39-25, at halftime.

Jordan Bitzer led all players with 20 points and nine rebounds for Central Michigan, while Robbie Harman added 19 points.

The Broncos go back on the road to play Ball State (6-8, 0-2 MAC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.