BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team lost its third game in a row in heartbreaking fashion, falling 59-57 to the Buffalo Bulls at Alumni Arena on Saturday. The Broncos fall to 10-15 on the season, with a 4-7 record in Mid-American Conference play. The Bulls have now won eight straight games.
Sophomore center Matt Stainbrook recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in just 24 minutes of play, and the Broncos overall did a good job of shutting down the potent Buffalo offensive attack. A great deal of that came from the Broncos' own discipline; WMU turned the ball over just six times against the Bulls.
The Broncos and Bulls traded leads throughout most of the game, with Western Michigan tying the score 56-56 with 24 seconds remaining when Mike Douglas drove to the hoop, made a lay-up, and drew a foul. Douglas' ensuing free throw put the Broncos' up 57-56; on the ensuing possession, the Bulls' Zach Filzen rushed down the court and made a jumper from the elbow with 12 seconds remaining to give Buffalo a one-point lead.
The Broncos still had time for one play, however; after Douglas missed a lay-up with less than two seconds remaining, Stainbrook corralled an offensive rebound and drew a foul. Stainbrook came up short at the free throw line, though, and the Bulls scored on an ensuing possession to steal the victory.
The Broncos made the game a see-saw battle with their first major surge of momentum early in the second half, erasing a seven-point deficit and turning it into a seven-point lead with a 19-5 run. Douglas was the first to get things moving, making a lay-up at the 19:19 mark to make it 30-25; the Broncos would cut the lead to just two points when Demetrius Ward drilled a three from the corner to make it 32-30 with 17:38 remaining.
Ward would strike again just over a minute later with another trey, giving the Broncos' their first lead of the second half at the 16:13 point. Stainbrook would score on a lay-up on the next possession to make it 39-35, and the Broncos would hold their biggest lead of the night when Ward hit another from downtown. The seven-point lead lasted as late as the 12:06 mark, when Brandon Pokley made a pair of free throws to give WMU a 46-39 lead. Buffalo would retake the lead at the 7:31 mark, and would lead 56-42 until the 1:48 mark, when Stainbrook hit an easy lay-up to cut the deficit to two points.
The Bulls opened up the game on a 12-4 run and looked to be well in control of the contest, and held a lead of 14-4 with 12:03 remaining in the first half. Stainbrook cut the lead to four points with a lay-up at 8:49 to make it 16-12, and Douglas would help maintain that four-point deficit with a jumper with 40 seconds remaining.
Ward finished the game with 12 points, all of which came on three-point shots. Flenard Whitfield scored 11 points, and Douglas finished with nine. Douglas also recorded five rebounds and four assists.
