KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team used a 14-1 run to start the second half to turn a halftime deficit into a 12-point lead, and the Broncos held off the rival Central Michigan Chippewas 64-61 at University Arena on Saturday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 9-10 on the season, with a 3-2 record in the Mid-American Conference. CMU falls to 7-11, 2-3 in the MAC.
In the victory, senior point guard Mike Douglas finished with 13 points and four assists, the last of which pushed him past Brian Snider for sole possession of second place on the program's career assists list. Douglas had 407 career assists, and needs 20 more to reach Billy Stanback's program record of 427 career assists.
Douglas was one of four Broncos to reach double-digit scoring against the Chippewas, including Nate Hutcheson (17), Flenard Whitfield (12), and Matt Stainbrook (11). Stainbrook had a game-high nine rebounds, narrowly missing out on his third double-double of the season.
The Broncos entered halftime trailing the Chippewas 33-32, but came out firing in the second half to take the lead. Stainbrook got things started with a lay-up at the 18:19 mark to give the Broncos the lead, and Whitfield scored on two consecutive possessions to give the Broncos a 38-33 lead with 17:16 remaining. Douglas would be the next in on the act, swiping a ball on the defensive end and draining a three-pointer from the wing to make it 41-33.
Hutcheson followed with a trey at the 16:19 mark to extend the lead to double digits, and Stainbrook capped the run with a pair of free throws at the 15:03 mark to give WMU a 46-34 lead. The Broncos kept the lead at double-digits as late as the 4:49 mark of the second half, when Demetrius Ward drilled a triple from the right corner give WMU a 61-50 lead. The Chippewas pulled to within three points with 2:21 remaining, but the Broncos were able to hold them off, with Whitfield grabbing a defensive rebound with 15 seconds remaining to seal the deal.
The first half was back and forth for the most part, with the Chippewas able to string together enough scoring runs to keep the lead going into half. The Broncos took their first lead of the day when Whitfield hit a turnaround hook shot at the 15:33 mark to make it 7-5, but CMU battled their way back. The Broncos actually led by as many as eight points at one point, when Whitfield hit another jumper to give WMU a 24-16 lead with 5:59 remaining in the half. However, CMU took the lead with less than a minute remaining on a Derek Jackson three-pointer.
