TAMPA, Fla. - Nate Hutcheson notched a career-high 30 points, three other players broke double-digits in scoring, and the Western Michigan men's basketball team used a second-half run to pull away from the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, defeating them 81-71 at the USF Invitational on Friday. The win improves the Broncos' record to 2-1; they will face Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday.

Hutcheson shot 8 of 13 from the field against the Ramblers, including a 6 of 8 performance from beyond the three-point arc, and led the Broncos with a career-high 30-point effort, and also threw in nine rebounds. Darius Paul recorded 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Austin Richie scored 13 points, including a clutch 3 of 4 performance from the free throw line down the stretch. Brandon Pokley hit a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds to reach 10 points for the game, his second straight double-digit scoring night.

The Broncos and Ramblers battled well into the second half, with Loyola taking a 55-54 lead with 9:27 remaining in the second half. The Broncos called a timeout to get themselves situated, and the adjustments made at the break turned out to be the catalyst to breaking the game open. Richie drained a three-pointer to give the Broncos a 57-55 lead, and Paul would thread a slick pass to Shayne Whittington at the 7:51 mark to give the Broncos a 59-55 advantage. Whittington completed a 9-1 run when he took another inlet pass, this one from Richie, and converted it to make it 63-57 and force a Loyola timeout.

The Ramblers pulled to within three points at the 6:00 mark when Ben Averkamp completed a three-point play with a lay-up and free throw, but Hutcheson drained a three-pointer at the 5:01 mark to make it 67-60, and would hit another at 4:23 to make it 70-60. The Broncos kept the Ramblers at arm's length for the remainder of the half, with Paul giving the Broncos an 11-point lead with a reverse one-handed dunk under the hoop to make it 76-65. Pokley gave the Broncos their largest lead of the night when he made a pair of free throws with 28 seconds remaining to make it 81-68, and the Ramblers made a pair of meaningless baskets at the end to cut the final deficit to 11 points.

The first half was a great back-and-forth battle, with the Broncos taking an early lead on Hutcheson's three-pointer at the 18:23 mark. The Broncos led the first half nearly beginning to end, but Loyola took a 28-27 lead with 5:49 remaining in the4 half. Hutcheson quickly got the lead back with a three-pointer, and Connar Tava would convert a no-look pass from Paul into a lay-up at the 4:36 mark, giving the Broncos a 33-28 lead. The largest lead of the half came at the 3:24 mark, when Paul drove to the hoop and laid the ball in to make it 38-31.