BOX SCORE

QUOTES

NOTES

KALAMAZOO -- Senior guard David Kool led all players with 30 points to set a new Western Michigan career scoring record with 1,790 points as the Broncos (11-8, 3-3 MAC) fell to Akron, 79-70, in front of 3,041 at University Arena on Wednesday night.

Kool hit two free throws with 48 seconds remaining to surpass Manny Newsome's 1,787 points that has stood since 1964. He rounded out the scoring with a jumper with 24 seconds remaining against the Zips (14-6, 4-2 MAC).

Senior Donald Lawson added a career-high 14 rebounds and 12 points for his fourth double-double of the season and sophomore Demetrius Ward scored a season-high 10 points off the bench. Sophomore Mike Douglas led all players with eight assists.

Akron shot 53.3 percent from the field (24-45), including 8-of-16 three-pointers, and made 23-of-31 free throws (.742), while the Broncos ended the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-58) and made just 4-of-15 three-pointers and 18-of-26 free throws (.692).

The Broncos out-rebounded Akron, 35-26, including a 16-6 edge in second chance points. Akron out-scored WMU, 21-12, in points off turnovers, despite having two more than WMU, 19-17.

Akron took the early lead on a Steve McNees three-pointer on its opening position, but the Broncos remained within one shot, 9-8, after Mike Douglas found Kool streaking down the court for a lay-up, 9-8, with 14:21 to play. The Zips went on an 8-2 run to build a seven-point cushion, 17-10, with 11:03 to go and pushed the lead to eight, 21-13, after two free throws with 9:03 remaining.

The Broncos responded with a 7-2 run over 2:49 to cut the Zips advantage to three, 23-20, after Kool found an offensive rebound and hit a 17-foot jumper with 5:45 to go in the half. Akron made its response with a 10-4 to take a nine-point lead, 33-24, after an offensive put-back with 2:26 on the clock.

The Broncos hit three free throws to fall behind by six, 33-27, but Brett McClanahan hit a long jumper at the buzzer to put the Zips up eight, 35-27, at intermission.

The Zips shot 50 percent in the first half, including 5-of-9 three-point shooting, while the Broncos made just 32.3 percent (10-31) of their shots and no three-pointers in six attempts. The Broncos hung around with 10 offensive rebounds, forced 11 turnovers and made seven free throws to just two for Akron.

At halftime, during Jet to the Gym, WMU student Claire Dulin won four round-trip tickets from Direct Air, while WMU student Robert Byrum won two round-trip tickets. From the general fans, Hugh Johnson of Portage and Mary McCormick of Kalamazoo each won two round-trip tickets courtesy of Direct Air.

The Zips opened the second half on a 12-4 run to increase their lead to 16, 47-31, after a three-pointer with 15:12 to go in the game. The Broncos responded with a 9-3 run to get the game back to 10, 50-40, on Kool's baseline jumper that forced Akron to call timeout with 12:03 to play. Less than one minute later, Kool hit his first three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to eight, 51-43, but Akron hit a three of its own on the next possession and two free throws after a steal to go up 13, 56-43, with just over 10 minutes to play.

The Broncos didn't wilt, as Lawson hit two free throws and Kool buried another triple to cut the deficit to eight, 56-48, but Akron went back up 10 on the next possession with a driving lay-up along the right baseline with 9:05 on the clock. The Broncos cut the lead to eight again, 58-50, when Flenard Whitfield finished with a finger roll at the rim, but Akron answered again with a three-point play, 61-50, with 7:37 to go.

Whitfield converted a three-point play on the next possession to cut the margin to eight again, but Akron scored the next three points to keep the lead at 11, 64-53, with 5:56 to go and the Broncos could never get the lead under three possessions until Kool hit his record-breaking free throws with 48 seconds remaining, 73-65.

Akron was led by Jimmy Conyers and Brett McKnight with 11 points, while Chris McKnight and Nikola Cvetinovic scored 10 points.

The Broncos head on the road to play at Kent State (13-7, 4-2 MAC) at Saturday at 2 p.m. in a game that can be seen on FOX Sports Ohio, FOX Sports Detroit, Time-Warner SportsNet-Buffalo, ESPN Full Court and ESPN360.com.