KALAMAZOO, Mich. - After trailing for most of the first half, WMU rallied behind big contributions from off the bench for a 64-53 exhibition victory over Spring Arbor in front of 2,228 fans at University Arena.
Three newcomers to the WMU program made significant contributions to the victory, led by Juwan Howard Jr. with 13 points. Fellow freshman Matt Stainbrook chipped with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds off the bench, and senior Alex Wolf paced all Bronco scorers with 14 points.
For the game, the Bronco bench outscored its starters 48-16, and held a 48-12 advantage over its Spring Arbor reserve counterparts. Nine Broncos scored in the victory, with ten players earning over ten minutes of playing time.
Spring Arbor had the Broncos on their heels for the better part of the first 20 minutes of action, racing out to an 8-0 lead and leading by as much as nine points in the first half.
The Cougars were paced by a great effort from senior Willie Pickvet, who filled the stat sheet with 18 points on 6-11 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal. Senior DJ Baisden added 16 points and four steals for the Cougars.
The Broncos took just their second lead of the game in the second half when a free throw by Shayne Whittington followed Howard's second three of the night to make the score 41-40 with 12:02 to play.
The Cougars answered with a pair of free throws by Willie Pickvet to retake the lead, but the Broncos were able to reclaim the lead for good on a Caleb Dean turnaround jumper from the right baseline to make the score 43-42 with 11:25 to play. In his first action with the Broncos, Dean contributed five points and two rebounds.
Over the next several minutes, the Broncos were able to pull away with a 12-4 run. Back-to-back left-handed jump-hooks from Stainbrook were followed by back-to-back threes by Wolf to cap off the run and push the lead to 53-46. Wolf was perfect from three-point distance on the night, knocking down all four of his attempts. The Cougars were never able to recover from the run, with the Broncos holding a 23-13 scoring advantage over the final 12:02.
After falling behind 8-0 early, 13 straight points from Wolf, Howard and Stainbrook gave WMU its first lead of the night at 13-12 with 12:34 to play.
Spring Arbor was able to answer however with key buckets coming from Pickvet and Matt Van Pelt to push the lead to as much as nine. Spring Arbor shot a crisp 50 percent (11-for-22) for the half, but cooled off in the second half to finish at 34.8 percent (16-for-46) for the game.
After struggling with their shooting for most of the first half, the Broncos came alive for a 10-2 run to close the half and cut the deficit to one, 33-32. Two circus shots in traffic by Demetrius Ward highlighted the run and gave WMU a little momentum going into the second half.
WMU was able to overcome a cold shooting night, shooting just 36.8% from the field by making 16-25 free throws.
Western Michigan will conclude its exhibition season when it takes on Kalamazoo College this Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2:00 p.m. at University Arena. The season will officially tip-off when the Broncos travel to Xavier for a Nov. 12 matchup against the Musketeers.
