KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team saw a late lead slip away against Bowling Green on Sunday, and the Broncos ultimately fell 69-64 to the Falcons at University Arena. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 9-7 on the season, and see their Mid-American Conference record evened at 2-2.
The Broncos shot 44.9 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Falcons by a margin of 37-30, but saw the Falcons catch fire late in the second half, especially from three-point range. Bowling Green out-scored WMU 24-9 on turnovers and recorded 12 steals as the Broncos turned the ball over 16 times in the loss.
David Brown scored a team-high 21 points to mark his sixth 20-point game of the season and the 21st straight game in which he's broken double-digits in points. Shayne Whittington also reached double figures, finishing with 18 points as well as eight rebounds. Connar Tava had seven points and the game-highs with 11 rebounds and six assists. Tucker Haymond came off the bench to score eight points, one point more than the entire Falcon bench produced in the game.
The Broncos looked to be in control of the game early as they controlled the first half of the game, opening on a 7-4 run that was capped with a dunk by Whittington on a feed from Tava. The Falcons used a 10-0 run to take a 14-7 lead with 14:55 remaining in the half, but WMU caught fire and re-took the lead shortly thereafter. Haymond made a pair of free throws to end what had been a long Bronco drought, and Brown pulled the Broncos back to within three points with a lay-up at the 12:25 mark. Mario Matasovic scored on a baseline dunk to make it just 16-15, and Brown took the lead back for the Broncos with a three-pointer from the left wing with 10:37 left in the half.
The Falcons tied the game back up, but Whittington scored on a fast break lay-up at the 6:08 mark to put the Broncos back ahead. That would spark a point in which Whittington scored six of the Broncos' next eight points, with a pair of free throws at the 4:10 mark putting them ahead 31-23. Brown dropped another triple from the wing to make it 34-23, and Haymond gave the Broncos their largest lead of the half with a banked-in three-pointer from the left side to make it 39-27 with a minute remaining in the half.
Bowling Green cut the deficit to six points with a free throw from Spencer Parker at the 16:59 mark of the second half, but Brown pushed the lead back to 10 points with an and-1 make to make it 45-35 less than a minute later. AJ Avery scored on a baseline lay-up thanks to a slick post feed from Tava to make it a 12-point game, and Haymond drilled another three-pointer from the corner to make it 50-35, the Broncos' largest lead of the night. The Falcons cut into the lead, though, taking it under 10 points with a three-pointer from Anthony Henderson that made it 50-43.
Henderson tied the score with a three at the 8:41 mark, and Jehvon Clarke gave the Falcons the lead for good with a three-pointer with 1:33 remaining. Brown missed a prayer three with 11 seconds left in the game, and Richaun Holmes made a pair of free throws to ice the win.
