MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team, picked fourth in the preseason poll, won the Mid-American Conference West Division for the fifth time under head coach Steve Hawkins and the sixth time in program history. The Broncos, led by Mike Douglas' career high 28 points, will face either #7 NIU or #10 BGSU on Thursday, March 10, in the quarterfinals of the First Energy MAC Tournament.
Western Michigan trailed, 4-0, at the 19:24 mark of the game. Took the lead, 7-6, on a Demetrius Ward jumper at the 17:07 mark and never trailed again, capturing its third MAC West crown in the past four seasons (2008, 2009, 2011), fifth under Hawkins (2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011) and sixth in program history (1998, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011).
One game after scoring a career high 25 points, Douglas went off again, scoring 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting. The junior point guard repeatedly took the Chippewas off the dribble in the first half, ending the first frame with a team high 13 points.
WMU built and reattained a nine-point lead four times in the first half. The first came on a Caleb Dean lay up with 2:14 remaining before the break. Juwan Howard Jr., who was one of four Broncos in double figures with 19 points, hit two free throws to build the lead back to nine two possessions later. After a Trey Zeigler jumper, Howard hit one of his own to make the lead, 38-29, and Muhammed Conteh gave the Broncos a nine-point margin heading into the locker room on a lay up with two seconds on the clock.
Central Michigan cut the Bronco lead down to five twice in the second half but each time Western Michigan had an answer. The first came on a Douglas jumper and the second came on two Alex Wolf free throws, pushing the lead back to seven each time. WMU reached its largest lead with 2:38 to go when Douglas tipped in his own miss to give WMU a 15-point lead, 73-58.
Western Michigan was 22-for-33 (66.7 percent) from the free-throw line and shot 51.9 percent from the floor, including 50.0 percent from three, for the game. WMU put it to Central Michigan in the paint, outscoring the Chippewas, 46-38.
Matt Stainbrook recorded his team best fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Nate Hutcheson had his second-straight game scoring in double figures with 12 points. He was perfect in the game, going 3-for-3 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from long range, and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. CMU had two players in double figures led by Jalin Thomas with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting.
