KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team shot at a torrid pace from the field and controlled the tempo of the game, downing the Duquesne Dukes 85-71 in front of nearly 3,000 fans at University Arena on Saturday. Winners of two straight, the Broncos improve to 3-7 on the season, including a 3-0 mark at home.
The Broncos shot 54.0 percent from the field, including a 10-of-22 (.455) mark from beyond the three-point arc, in running up 85 points on the Dukes. Junior Nate Hutcheson had one of his best games in a Bronco uniform, dropping a career-high 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 day at the free throw line. Demetrius Ward shot 6-of-11 from the field for 15 points, and also added five rebounds. Defensively, the Broncos out-rebounded the Dukes 37-23, and collected more offensive rebounds (13) than the Dukes did defensive rebounds (11).
WMU got big contributions from the bench as well, with junior Brandon Pokley contributing a dangerous touch from the outside. Pokley went 4-of-5 from three-point range and finished with a career-best 16 points in 28 minutes of work. Shayne Whittington came off the bench to provide nine points, five rebounds, and a block.
The Broncos trailed in the early portion of the contest, as the Dukes opened up on an 88-3 run to begin the game. However, David Brown would slice the lead to 8-6 after dropping a three-pointer from the corner, and Hutcheson would tie the score with a pair of free throws at the 16:14 mark. Those scores would come as part of an impressive 17-3 run for the Broncos in the first half; Ward would score on a lay-up to make it 10-8 and give WMU its first lead of the night, a lead they would not relinquish for the final 35 minutes of play.
Pokley drained his first three-pointer of the day at the 14:33 mark to give the Broncos a 13-10 lead, and one possession later Mike Douglas would hit a jumper to make it a five-point difference. Douglas finished the game with 13 points, five assists, and a game-high seven rebounds. Ward would hit back-to-back threes midway through the half, including a triple at the 10:47 mark to make it 21-11 and cap the run. Pokley would hit a pair of free throws with a minute remaining in the half to give the Broncos their largest lead of the half at 44-25.
It was smooth sailing the rest of the way for the Broncos, who never allowed the Dukes to pull within 10 points in the second half. Hutcheson gave the Broncos their biggest lead of the afternoon at the 12:15 mark of the second half, draining a trey to make the score 61-41. The Dukes would make things interesting late in the half when Kadeem Pantophlet hit a three-pointer with 5:19 remaining, slicing the WMU lead to just 11 points.
However, on the very next possession, Pokley delivered what may have been the dagger, drilling a three-pointer to push WMU's lead back to 14 points. The Dukes would never quite muster the strength for another surge, and the Broncos wrapped the game with a Hutcheson dunk with 45 seconds remaining.
