CLEVELAND, Ohio - The
Western Michigan men's basketball team made a mad dash late in the second half
to try and prolong their season, but the Akron Zips' hot streak from beyond the arc
in the first half ultimately proved too much for the Broncos to overcome in a 79-68 loss at the Mid-American Conference tournament semifinal.
With the loss, the Broncos fall to 20-12 on the
season. The Zips improve to 22-12, and
will face the winner of the Kent State/Ball State game on Friday evening.
The Broncos easily controlled the glass against the Zips,
corralling 50 caroms to the Zips' 38 rebounds.
However, Akron used a great start - they went 7-for-13 (.538) from
three-point range in the first half - to give themselves a cushion which WMU
was unable to overcome despite a late-game rally. Akron's bench was also a large factor in the
win, outscoring the Broncos' bench 27-12.
That rally, though, very nearly did the unthinkable as the
Broncos were clicking in the final minutes of the game. Trailing 60-46 at the 7:41 mark, Western
Michigan went on a 17-6 run that was partially sparked by the Zips' foul
issues. Nate Hutcheson started the run
with a lay-up and was followed by six consecutive points from Demetrius
Ward. Ward scored 12 of the Broncos' 13
points in the run as they pulled to within 67-63 at the 1:55 mark. It looked as if the momentum had turned in WMU's
favor, but Akron's Brett McClanahan nailed a dagger three-pointer to make it a 70-63,
and a double-technical on Mike Douglas at the 1:19 mark doused the rally for good.
The Broncos had started the second half with a 9-4 run, with Douglas opening the run on a three-pointer at 18:07. Flenard Whitfield and Ward followed with
buckets in the paint to close the gap to 45-36, but Akron's hot shooting kept
the Broncos at bay. Akron's Nikola Cvetinovich registered
a lay-up to put the Zips up 51-38 at the 13:23 mark, and McClanahan hit a three
to make it 54-39.
The Zips came out firing from beyond the arc in the first
half, knocking down their first three three-pointers to take an 11-6 lead over
the Broncos. Alex Wolf tallied a trey of
his own to slash the deficit to 15-10 out of the media timeout, but Akron answered
with an 8-0 run that gave them a 13-point lead at 23-10. That lead would eventually swell to 16 points
on a Quincy Diggs three-point shot, and the Broncos would ultimately enter the
locker room at halftime trailing 41-27.
WMU shot just 11-for-35 (.314) in the first half.
Ward registered a game-high 22 points on 6-of-18 shooting
(.333), and also contributed seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals; Ward
was also a solid 8-for-11 (.727) from the foul line. Douglas contributed 11 points, four rebounds,
four assists, and three steals, and shot 2-for-5 (.400) from three-point
range. Hutcheson had six points and a
game- and career-high 12 rebounds; along with Whitfield (10), WMU had the only
players to reach double figures in rebounding in the game. Whitfield finished with nine points, just one
shy of recording his second double-double in as many games.
