KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team received clutch contributions in the final minute of a close game, and the Broncos defeated the Winthrop Eagles 60-55 at University Arena on Tuesday. The win is the third straight victory for the Broncos and fourth in their last five games; WMU improves to 4-7 overall, while Winthrop falls to 4-8.
While each of the Broncos' previous three wins had been decided by 10 points or more, WMU showed the capacity to play clutch situational basketball with the game on the line against the Eagles. Holding a somewhat precarious 52-49 lead with just over one minute remaining, the Broncos saw two veterans and a freshman ice the win in the paint and on the free throw line. Senior Demetrius Ward extended the Broncos' lead to 55-49 by hitting a nifty lay-up with 50 seconds remaining, and guards Austin Richie and Mike Douglas went 6-of-6 in the final 20 seconds of the game at the free throw line. All told, the Broncos finished 19-of-22 (.864) from the charity stripe, while Douglas ended up with a game-high 15 points.
The Broncos also got a key stop with 10 seconds remaining and leading just four points. Winthrop's Andre Jones, who entered the contest leading Winthrop in scoring but was held to just 2-of-12 shooting from the field against the Broncos, missed a hotly contested jumper at the 10-second mark. Richie grabbed the defensive rebound and took a hard foul from Gideon Gamble; Richie made both free throws to make it a two-possession game again at 58-52, and would make another pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to ensure a Bronco victory.
It looked as though the Broncos had turned the corner earlier in the half, and for a while it appeared WMU would cruise to a victory. After Shayne Whittington converted a three-point play at the 16:06 mark by making a lay-up, drawing a foul, and making the free throw, the Broncos went on a 12-4 run to take the 37-32 lead with 10:13 remaining. After the Eagles' Gamble tipped in a loose shot to cut the lead to three points, the Broncos embarked on an 11-2 run that was sparked by a three-point play from Matt Stainbrook.
The Broncos continued to attack the hoop late and capped their run with a run of four free throws from Richie and Douglas on consecutive possessions. WMU held its biggest lead of the night at the 5:50 mark of the second half, going ahead 48-36 thanks to superb shooting from the charity stripe.
The Broncos would lead for the greater portion of the first half, having rebounded from a 5-0 Eagles run to start to take the lead 7-5 on a Nate Hutcheson three-pointer. Hutcheson would have a game-high 10 points in the first half as the Broncos led the Eagles for the final 15 minutes of play in the period. The biggest lead would come at the 3:12 mark of the half, when freshman Hayden Hoerdemann drained a three with the shot clock winding down to give WMU a 25-17 advantage. However, the Eagles would score the final six points of the first half to pull it close, making it 25-23 after 20 minutes of play.
