KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team posted its second straight blowout victory, closing out non-conference play at home with an 83-47 win over Siena Heights on Thursday. With the win, the Broncos will enter next week's Mid-American Conference opener against Toledo with a 7-5 record.
The bench once again played a key role in the Broncos' victory, contributing 43 points and doing their part in pouring it on the Saints. Hayden Hoerdemann led the bench effort with 12 points, his highest single-game scoring output since notching 18 points against Northern Illinois during the 2011-12 season. Shayne Whittington led the Broncos with 16 points of his own, going 5-of-7 from the field, and David Brown scored 10 points in just 19 minutes of play.
The Broncos shared the ball well in the win, recording 20 assists on 27 made baskets; the 20-assist performance is one of just 13 games in Western Michigan basketball history in which 20 assists have been recorded. The Broncos were on fire from three-point range in the first half, finishing 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, including a stretch where six of their seven made field goals were three-pointers. WMU was dynamite from the free throw line as well, going 20-of-21 for a 95.2 shooting percentage, a number that is tied for the fifth-best single-game performance in team history.
The game was close halfway through the first half, as Siena Heights' Jamison Webster completed a four-point play by drawing a foul on a three-point make, cutting the Broncos' lead to just 13-10 with 13:41 remaining in the period. WMU started its offensive barrage from that point, though, out-scoring the Saints 22-3 over the next minutes to leave no question about which team would lead at the half. Brown sparked the run with a three-pointer from the left corner to up the lead to 16-10, and on the very next possession Austin Richie drained one from the corner to make it a three-possession game.
Kellen McCormick made three-pointers on back-to-back offensive possessions to give the Broncos a 25-12 lead at the 8:16 mark, and Brown scored five straight points with a three at the 7:19 mark and a pair of free throws less than 30 seconds later to make it 30-12. Whittington closed out the heater with a three-pointer of his own, letting one go from the head of the key to make it 35-13. Whittington added a long-range dunk with 4:16 remaining in the first half, taking off from well away from the rim and posterizing a Saint player; Whittington went on to make the ensuing free throw to make it 40-16. Hoerdemann made a pair of free throws at the end of the half to set the final deficit, as the Broncos entered the break leading 47-20.
Western Michigan opened the second half on a 13-2 run that was bolstered by a defense that allowed no Siena Heights field goals from the 19:31 mark until Latwan Wesley made a three-pointer with 13:16 to play in the half. Jared Klein made a three from the left wing to make it 58-22 at the 15:09 mark, and Whittington closed out the run with a pair of free throws less than two minutes later. The advantage reached its zenith with less than eight minutes to play, when Hoerdemann pulled down an offensive rebound and put it back in to make it 70-27 with 7:53 remaining.
The lead stuck at better than 40 points when Richie made a lay-up with five minutes remaining, and Von Washington drilled a three from the deep right corner with 4:47 left to make it 75-34. The Bronco reserved wrapped things up tidily with a good defensive effort, and Tim Brennan netted his first bucket of the season with less than a minute remaining to seal the deal against the Saints.
