KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Western Michigan University's men's basketball team battled back from a late deficit to defeat South Dakota State 77-74 and earn its fourth straight victory before 2,408 fans Saturday afternoon at University Arena.
Facing a 72-65 deficit with 2:49 to play, the Broncos began their comeback when Flenard Whitfield converted a lay-up to draw a foul. Whitfield missed the bonus free throw, but an offensive rebound by Nate Hutcheson allowed the Broncos to re-set in the half-court. Demetrius Ward attacked the paint and finished with a left-handed leaner to cut the deficit to 72-69 with 2:11 to play.
At the other end, WMU was able to force the Jackrabbits into a missed three, and Whitfield pulled the Broncos to within 72-71 with another short jumper at the 1:04 mark. The Jackrabbits missed a quick three at the other end, and off a WMU timeout Ward once again drove the lane to drive the foul. He converted both free throws to give the Brown & Gold their first lead in over seven minutes, 73-72, with 55 seconds left.
A driving lay-up at the other end by Nate Wolters put the Jackrabbits back on top 74-73 with 43 seconds to play. Those points were part of a big day for Wolters, who scored 28 points on 8-of-19 shooting.
But for the second straight game, Ward set up Whitfield to give the Broncos a late lead. Ward drove the lane and dished off the Whitfield, who hit a short jumper to put the Broncos up for good 75-74 with 34 seconds left. The Bronco defense was able to force a driving miss by Girffan Callahan at the other end, with Ward grabbing the rebound and knocking down two free throws at the other end. The Jackrabbits had two chances to tie in the last 14 seconds, but the Broncos were able to force Cliff Sargent into two missed threes.
Ward finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and hit all four of his free throw attempts in the game's final two minutes. Whitfield added 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half, to go along six rebounds and a block. With the victory, WMU improved to 5-4, while South Dakota State fell to 7-3.
Mike Douglas also reached double figures for WMU, scoring 12 points. The Broncos have had three or more players score in double figures in every game this season.
WMU controlled the game for the majority of the afternoon, after a 20-2 run over a span of 7:11 turned an 11-8 deficit into a 28-13 lead late in the first half. Defense was key to the early run, as the Broncos held South Dakota State without a field goal for 8:17. WMU held the Jackrabbits to 43.9 percent shooting on the afternoon (25-57), while the Broncos shot 48.3 percent on 28-of-58.
The Jackrabbits cut the WMU lead to seven late in the first half, but a pair free throws by Caleb Dean and Dan Loney as well as a long three by Juwan Howard Jr. as time expired pushed the Bronco lead back to 13 at the half. Loney played key minutes for WMU late in the half with Hutcheson, Matt Stainbrook, Whitfield and Muhammed Conteh all on the bench in foul trouble. In four minutes of action, Loney scored two points and grabbed two rebounds.
WMU led by as many as 19 with 19:00 to play in the second half, but the Jackrabbits outscored the Broncos 42-16 over the next 16:11 before WMU mounted its late comeback. In addition to Wolters big day, the Jackrabbits also got 12 points from Jordan Dykstra and 11 from Sargent.
Foul trouble was a factor for both teams all afternoon. Nine players were whistled for three fouls or more between the two teams, which combined for 48 fouls. WMU capitalized on its free throws, shooting 78.3 percent from the line (18-23), while the Jackrabbits converted 18-of-30 attempts for a 60 percent clip.
WMU also outrebounded South Dakota State 38-33 and held a 41-34 scoring advantage in the paint.
WMU will look to increase its winning streak to five as it heads to the World Vision Invitational in Logan, Utah from Dec. 21-23. The Broncos will face Troy in its first game at the Invitational, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. EST. Radio coverage will be provided by the Bronco Radio Network.
