FARGO, N.D. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team started out hot in their Bracketbuster contest, but were unable to keep up the positive momentum in falling 86-73 to North Dakota State in Fargo on Saturday. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 11-16 on the season. They will return to action on Wednesday when they host Ball State.
Mike Douglas went off for 21 points on the strength of a strong three-point shooting performance in the first half, and Matt Stainbrook posted his team-high fourth double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Broncos started the game by attacking the Bison from the perimeter, stunning the crowd at the Bison Sports Arena by jumping out to an early lead and holding it through the remainder of the first half. Trailing 7-4 in the opening minutes, the Broncos cut the lead to one point when Stainbrook spun around Marshall Bjorklund and notched an easy lay-up off the glass.
The Broncos took the lead at the 16:40 mark when Demetrius Ward fired a three from just beyond the head of the key, making it 9-7; Nate Hutcheson would add a three one possession later to give the Broncos a 12-7 lead.
The Bison whittled the lead to one point when Taylor Braun hit a left-handed lay-up in the paint, but Douglas stretched the lead back up when he hit a long jumper to make it 14-11. He would hit a three-pointer at the 11:16 mark to give the Broncos a six-point lead, and would add one more at the 8:01 mark to give the Broncos a double-digit lead.
It would be part of a 7-1 run for the Broncos that gave them their biggest lead of the night; Stainbrook would record a tip-in lay-up to give the Broncos a 30-19 lead with 7:13 remaining.
Austin Richie would hit a baseline lay-up to give the Broncos an eight-point lead with 2:14 remaining in the first half, but from that point forward the Bison would control the tempo and push the Broncos back on their heels. NDSU went on a 9-1 run to open the second half, briefly taking a 35-34 lead before Flenard Whitfield hit a free throw at the 17:51 mark. The Bison took the lead for good at the 16:29 mark on a Dylan Hale jumper that made it 39-37; Hale would hit a three at the 12:27 mark to make it 52-42.
WMU would cut the lead to five points when Brandon Pokley hit a triple from the corner, making it 59-54 with 6:49 remaining; Stainbrook would convert a three-point play to make it just four points with 5:50 remaining. However, the Bison were able to pull away and reach another double-digit lead, finish the game 86-73.
