SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team fought tooth and nail down the stretch in their first of four games in the state of California on Monday, but the Broncos were edged out by the San Diego Toreros on the road, 77-70, at Jenny Craig Pavilion. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 3-1 on the season.
David Brown authored his second 20-point performance of the season, recording a game-high 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field while also contributing six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Tucker Haymond continued his strong stretch of play with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and Austin Richie potted 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field.
The Broncos shot a solid 42.6 percent from the field in the game but struggled from the free throw line, going just 12 of 24 at the charity stripe. WMU did have a solid day taking the ball away from the Toreros, however, forcing them into 19 turnovers.
The high point of the second half game with about 10 minutes to play in regulation, when the Broncos briefly jumped San Diego for the lead in the game. The Toreros lead 38-31 at the half but WMU chipped away bit by bit in the second half, cutting the lead to two points after an old-fashioned three-point play by Brown at the 17:44 mark.
The lead was cut to three points after Connar Tava hauled in his own miss and tipped the offensive rebound back to make it 49-46. Haymond struck again at the 12:53 mark to make it 51-49 with a thre-pointer, and the sophomore swiped the ball from Chris Anderson and laid it in on the fast break to tie it at 51-all. Richie tied the score again with 10:56 remaining with a three from the left wing, and Brown gave the Broncos their first lead since midway through the first half with a pair of free throws after being fouled by Vasa Pusica on the fast break.
San Diego rallied back with a 9-0 run though, re-taking a 65-56 lead with 7:44 remaining in the game, and the Toreros pushed the lead to as many as 10 points the rest of the way. WMU cut the lead to seven points in the final seconds of the game, but it was not enough to complete the comeback.
