KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team was able to turn it on late in the second half to hold off a hungry Northern Illinois team, and the Broncos defeated the Huskies 77-68 at University Arena on Wednesday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 7-9 on the season, 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The Huskies fall to 1-13 overall, 0-2 in MAC play. Hayden Hoerdemann finished with a game- and career-high 18 points, including a 4-of-6 night from three-point range.
The win marked a special occasion for head coach Steve Hawkins, as it was the 152nd win of Hawkins' career at Western Michigan. He moves into a tie with former WMU head coach Bob Donewald for second place on the program's head coaching victories list. Hawkins reached 152 wins in less than nine full seasons in Kalamazoo; Donewald needed 11 seasons to reach the total.
Leading just 67-64 with two minutes remaining, Demetrius Ward made a pair of free throws to extend the Broncos' lead to four points; he would drain a 10-footer on WMU's next trip down the court to give the Broncos a 71-64 lead with 1:25 remaining. Nate Hutcheson would continue to stretch the lead, robbing NIU's Abdel Nader of the ball on the ensuing Huskies possession and drawing a foul, and ultimately making a pair of free throws at the 1:13 mark. The Broncos would go 6-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to down the Huskies at home.
The Broncos opened the second half on a 12-4 run, with Matt Stainbrook single-handedly outscoring the Huskies with seven points in that span. Stainbrook scored just four points in the first half, but posted 12 in the second half to take control of the offense. He gave the Broncos their first double-digit lead of the game with a tip-in at the 15:48 mark, making it 44-34. The Huskies worked their way closer, but Austin Richie hit a three-pointer with 10:33 remaining to make it 52-44, and Stainbrook would finish a three-point play at the 9:51 mark to give the Broncos an 11-point lead.
NIU continued to climb back, though, and eventually pulled to within 55-53 with 7:03 remaining. However, the Broncos' offense began to click again and were sparked to a 7-1 run when Hoerdemann hit a pair of free throws at the 6:52 mark. On the next WMU possession, Nate Hutcheson scored on a one-handed dunk, and Hoerdemann would drain his fourth trey of the night just 37 seconds later to give the Broncos a 62-54 lead.
The two teams battled hard in the first half, with neither leading the other by more than five points at any time in the half. Nate Hutcheson opened the half with a trio of free throws at the 18:49 mark, but the Broncos would be without a field goal until Hutcheson charged baseline and threw down a two-handed dunk at the 15:21 mark.
The Huskies maintained the lead, though, until Hoerdemann hit a three from the left corner at the 13:34 mark to give the Broncos a 10-8 lead. After NIU's Tim Toler responded with a three of his own, Hoerdemann struck again, giving WMU a 13-11 lead. Hoerdemann would add one more for good measure at the 5:07 mark, with the Broncos' 26-21 lead their largest of the half. Hoerdemann finished the first half with 11 points, already just one shy of his season and career high.
