DeKALB, Ill. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team was absolutely on fire from beyond the three-point arc, and the Broncos ran away with it in a 78-53 win over the Northern Illinois Huskies at the NIU Convocation Center. With the win, the Broncos improve to 11-15 on the season, 5-7 in the Mid-American Conference. It is the Broncos' largest margin of victory since February 27, 2011, when the Broncos defeated Eastern Michigan 87-60.
The Broncos did most of their damage beyond the three-point line, going 13-of-22 from the land of plenty; those 13 triples rank as the fourth-most for a single game in school history. Demetrius Ward was the primary damage-dealer for the Broncos, going 5-of-10 from three to record a game-high 18 points. Flenard Whitfield added 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds, Nate Hutcheson had 15, and Brandon Pokley buried a trio of three-pointers to score 11 points.
The Broncos and Huskies each started out slow on offense in the first half, but the Broncos were the first ones shake the malaise and get down to business. The score was tied at just 10-10 for nearly the first 10 minutes of the game, but the Broncos would take the lead for good at the 10:03 mark when Ward made a three from the left wing. Nate Hutcheson would add the next points with a short jumper, and Ward would expand the lead to six points at the 8:14 mark when he dropped a lay-up and drew a foul.
The basket made it 18-12, but the Broncos wouldn't be done yet. Ward and Hutcheson would strike again, this time with back-to-back three pointers from the right corner to give the Broncos a 25-14 lead with 6:08 remaining in the half, prompting NIU head coach Mark Montgomery to burn a timeout. The Broncos' lead would become as large as 12 points, when Whitfield drew a foul under the hoop and hit a pair of free throws to make it 29-17. Ward would help the Broncos post that lead again with yet another three-pointer, making it 32-20 with 2:04 remaining. The Huskies would narrow the lead as the half wound down, but Whitfield would hit a jumper in the paint to keep the lead at double-digits at the half.
The Broncos picked up where they left off after a hot first half; they quelled a modest 5-0 run by the Huskies when Ward drained his third three-pointer of the night, and Mike Douglas would make a pair of free throws to even the ledger at the 18:02 mark. Ward would continue his hot night from beyond the arc at the 16:09 mark, burying his fourth triple to make it 44-31. NIU would cut the lead to eight points on a three-point play from Tyler Storm, but the Broncos pushed back when Whitfield hit a turnaround lay-up to make it 48-38. Loney would make it a 12-point lead on the ensuing offensive possession for the Broncos, rushing in on the fast break and tipping in a missed lay-up to make it 50-38 with 13:41 remaining.
Austin Richie would stretch the Broncos' lead at the 12:02 mark, burying a wide-open three from the right wing to give WMU a 55-38 lead. Overall, the Broncos would not allow a Huskies point from the 14:33 mark until the 9:26 mark, as WMU would also continue its torrid pace from the three-point arc. Pokley would make a three at the 4:33 mark to give the Broncos their biggest lead of the night, a 75-49 advantage.
The Broncos will be back in action on Saturday, February 18 when they take on the North Dakota State Bison in Fargo. The game will be part of the Sears Bracketbusters promotion. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
