CLEVELAND, Ohio - The
Western Michigan men's basketball team produced strong runs at the beginning of
both the first and second halves, and had three players reach double-digits in
scoring in defeating the Bowling Green State Falcons 67-56 in the quarterfinals
of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday.
The win improves the Broncos to 20-11 overall in 2010-11,
giving WMU head coach Steve Hawkins the fourth 20-win season of his
career. It is now the eighth 20-win
season in program history. The Falcons
end their season with a 14-19 record.
With the win, the Broncos enter the MAC Tournament semifinals,
and will take on the winner of Akron - Miami (OH). The semifinal game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on
Friday, March 11.
The Broncos' defense was able to control Bowling Green's perimeter
shooting, as they held the Falcons to just 1-for-12 (.083) from three-point
range. WMU also did an exceptional job
in turning miscues into points; the Broncos outscored the Falcons 15-4 on
points off turnovers and 8-2 on fast break points. The Broncos turned the ball over just eight
times, compared to 13 turnovers for the Falcons.
Offensively, the Broncos had three players reach
double-digits in scoring; Demetrius Brown led the team with 14 points, and was
joined by Flenard Whitfield (12) and Matt Stainbrook (10). Whitfield also notched a team-high 10
rebounds to give him his third double-double of the 2010-11 season and seventh
of his career.
The Broncos controlled the tempo early on in the first half,
opening the game on a 12-4 run with a combination of solid defense and a strong
long-range attack. Junior guard
Demetrius Ward nailed his first three three-point attempts to aid the run, and
was part of a Broncos attack that went 5-of-10 (.500) from three-point range in
the first half.
While Ward was doing the damage on the outside, Matt
Stainbrook took control inside, drawing three Bowling Green fouls on and adding
six points. Bowling Green would slice
the lead to 20-17 on an A'uston Calhoun three, but the Broncos came back with a
10-0 run of their own, including two buckets from Flenard Whitfield and a
three-pointer from Alex Wolf. That
bucket gave the Broncos a 30-17, their largest of the half, and prompted the
Falcons to burn a timeout with 4:26 remaining in the half.
The timeout seemed to spark the Falcons, who closed the
first half on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to just 33-26. The Broncos were held scoreless for the final
3:57 of the first half in seeing their lead nearly halved. Part of that resurgence can be credited to
improved rebounding by the Falcons; they controlled 17 caroms in comparison to just
12 for the Broncos.
Whitfield stopped the drought quickly in the second half,
draining a short jumper to make it 35-26, then hitting a lay-up and drawing a
foul two possessions later. Whitfield
knocked down the foul shot to build the Bronco lead back to double-digits, and
sparked what would be a 15-6 run for the Broncos to begin the second half. After BG's Dee Brown narrowed the lead with a
jumper, Mike Douglas nailed his first "3" attempt of the game to give WMU a
41-30 lead at 17:09.
Things bogged down a bit for both teams, as the squads
scored just a combined five points in the next five minutes of play. The Broncos were the first to recover from
the malaise, and built their biggest lead of the day - 16 points, at 48-32 with
10:36 remaining - after buckets on consecutive possessions from Nate Hutcheson
and Muhammed Conteh. The Falcons were
held to just one field goal over a 5:40 span as the Broncos built up steam, and
the Broncos ultimately kept the Falcons at arm's length in the second half.
The Broncos shot a respectable 42.6 percent for the game,
and outrebounded the Falcons 34-33 overall.
WMU also enjoyed a 16-to-8 assist-to-turnover ratio and shot 15-for-19
(.789) from the foul line.
Ward finished the game with 14 points, six rebounds, one
assist, and one steal. Stainbrook, a
product of nearby Lakewood St. Edward High School, recorded 10 points, seven
rebounds, one assist, and one block in front of his hometown fans. Douglas had seven points, six assists, four
blocks, and two steals.
NOTE: The Western Michigan Cheer & Dance Teams will be performing on Friday, March 11 from 2 - 3:30 p.m. at MAC FanFest, located at Tower City in Cleveland.
WMU Post-Game PC
