BOX SCORE
QUOTES
NOTES
KALAMAZOO -- David Kool hit a short jumper off glass with 4.2 seconds remaining to lead Western Michigan past Bowling Green, 65-64, in front of 3,515 at University Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Broncos (13-10, 5-5 MAC) trailed by one, 64-63, after Kool made a jumper with just over 12 seconds remaining. After committing one foul to get into the bonus, WMU trapped Bowling Green's (11-11, 4-6 MAC) Joe Jakubowski on the inbounds. Jakubowski spun away from the pressure, but dribbled the ball off his knee. The ball deflected off WMU's Mike Douglas into the hands of Kool. Kool drove and then banked a shot over 6-foot-9 Marc Larson.
The Falcons tried to throw the ball the length of the floor, but the pass was intercepted by Donald Lawson and WMU ran out the clock.
The Broncos fell behind by 11, 56-45, with 8:34 to play, but then went on a 16-2 run behind a full court pressure defense. WMU tied the game, 58-58, after Douglas grabbed a long rebound and went the length of the court and then took the lead, 61-58, with 4:03 to play after Demetrius Ward found Kool wide-open for a triple on the right wing.
Bowling Green held WMU scoreless for the next 3:51 as it scored six in a row to regain the lead, 62-61, on a lay-up with 2:10 to play and increased the lead to three, 64-61, with 17 seconds remaining. Kool cut the lead to go with a baseline jumper with 12 seconds remaining to set up the game's final moments.
Kool led all players with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Flenard Whitfield had 10 points and Douglas and Martelle McLemore each had eight. Ward led the Broncos with a career-high eight rebounds off the bench and added six points, two rebounds and one assist.
The Broncos started fast by hitting back-to-back three-pointers to open the game, but then WMU went cold for the next 6:16 as the Falcons scored 11 points in a row. WMU ended the drought when Mike Douglas laced a pass to Flenard Whitfield for a lay-up with 12:47 left in the half, 11-8.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Kool and Alex Wolf helped WMU cut the lead to one, 17-16, with 9:18 to go in the half. Bowling Green continued to carve up the WMU defense, however, and went back up six, 24-18, with 6:58 to play. The Broncos came back with five in a row as Kool found Nate Hutcheson for a triple and then connected with a lob pass to McLemore on the fast break to cut the margin to one, 24-23, with 5:08 remaining.
WMU couldn't hang on to the momentum and the Falcons scored a pair of inside buckets to go back up five and kept the margin there until Whitfield hit a mid-range jumper and McLemore made one free throw to put the Broncos down by a pair, 32-30, at halftime.
The Broncos shot 55 percent (11-20) in the first half, including five three-pointers, but were victimized by nine turnovers and made only 3-of-9 free throws. The Falcons shot 42.4 percent (14-33) and made only one three-pointer in six attempts. The Falcons scored six second chance points, while not allowing any to WMU, and only turned the ball over three times.
The Broncos quickly re-took the lead, 35-34, in the second half as Kool nailed a three-pointer from up top, but then BGSU came right back with a three-point play to regain the lead, 37-35, with 16:51 to go in the contest. The Broncos scored twice with a baseline runner by Demetrius Ward and then Kool lobbed a pass over the top of the defense to Donald Lawson for a fast break lay-up to put WMU back in the lead, 39-37, with 15:38 to go.
The Broncos shot 45.5 percent (25-55), including 7-of-18 three-pointers, while Bowling Green shot 61.9 percent in the second half to finish at 27-of-54 for the game, but only 2-of-10 from long distance. Rebounding was even, 31-31, but WMU out-scored BGSU 10-0 in second chance points in the second half. WMU also had a 13-4 edge in fast break points and 20-12 edge in points off turnovers to help offset a 40-28 advantage in paint points by the Falcons.
Bowling Green had four players in double figures led by Scott Thomas and Otis Polk with 14 each.
The Broncos conclude conference crossover play at Ohio (12-10, 3-5 MAC) on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
