TOWSON, Md. - Western Michigan men's basketball suffered a heart-breaking road loss on Wednesday night, falling to Towson, 75-73, on a jumper with 0.7 seconds left in regulation.  The Broncos had three players score in double figures for the fifth-straight game to open the season led by Nate Hutcheson and Juwan Howard Jr. with 13 points apiece.

WMU enjoyed a 15-point lead three times during the second half, once at 62-47 on Caleb Dean's jumper, again at 63-48 on a Howard free throw and the final time at 66-51 on Howard's second of two three pointers.  From there the Tigers began to chip away at the Bronco lead.

Towson went on a 17-3 run capped by a lay up at the Braxton Dupree lay up at the 4:33 mark.  The Broncos went 2:21 of game time without a field goal before Howard answered with a jumper to put WMU up, 71-68, 18 seconds later.  Tony Franklin hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Tigers their first lead, 72-71, since it the 17:41 mark of the first half when Rashawn Polk hit a three pointer.

Western Michigan came up empty its next three times down the court, giving Towson the ball.  Franklin hit one of two free throws to go up by two, 73-71, with 28 seconds remaining.  Mike Douglas put back his own miss on the Broncos' next possession with 14 seconds left on the clock.  Towson called a time out to set up its offense.  Douglas contributed to the Broncos' offense by passing as well.  His career-high 13 assists are tied with Rod Brown and Robby Collum for the second most in a game in program history.

Franklin tried a jumper but was blocked by Douglas.  With two seconds remaining, the ball went out of bounds back to the Tigers and with 0.7 seconds left on the clock, Isaiah Philmore drained a jumper to claim the second win of the season for Towson.

Howard scored eight of his 13 points in the second half as did Demetrius Ward, who finished the game with 11 points, going 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.  Ward also led the team with four steals on the night.

Western Michigan shot 51.4 percent from the floor in the first half, taking a 42-34 lead into the break.  The Broncos grabbed their first lead of the night at the 16:37 mark of the first half on Hutcheson's lay up.  WMU's lead grew to 11 points at the 8:20 mark of the first half on Ward's three pointer.  The lead would reach 11 points twice more in the first half and would hit double digits four more times throughout the game.

Franklin went 7-for-14 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from behind the arc, to lead Towson with 22 points off the bench.  Dupree followed with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting.  Philmore also finished in double figures, scoring 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting.

Towson bested Western Michigan in bench scoring, 30-24, second chance points, 18-9 and points off turnovers, 18-11.  The Broncos outscored the Tigers 6-0 on the fast break and 42-36 in the paint.

WMU travels home for a Saturday afternoon (Dec. 4) game at 2 p.m. against Alma from University Arena.