FULLERTON, Calif. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team held a five-point lead late in the second half, but the Broncos were unable to hold off a hot-shooting Long Beach State team as the Broncos fell 73-55 to the 49ers in the first game of the 2014 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy played at Titan Gym. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 3-2 on the season; they will face San Jose State on Friday, Nov. 28 at 9 p.m. ET.
Freshman center Drake LaMont posted the first double-digit scoring game of his career, adding 11 points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots. Austin Richie had a team-high 13 points and four assists, and Connar Tava contributed 12 points and a team-high six rebounds. Khadim Dieng made his collegiate debut, coming off the bench to pull down four rebounds in just seven minutes against the 49ers.
The Broncos and 49ers played a tight defensive first half, with both teams holding the other to low shooting percentages in the first 20 minutes. Long Beach State caught fire in the second half, though, coming back from a five-point deficit with 8:23 to play and shooting 52.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to take a double-digit victory over WMU.
WMU trailed the 49ers 31-30 at halftime, but they quickly jumped back on top thanks to a 6-0 run to start the second half. David Brown picked Tyler Lamb's pocket and raced down the court on a fast break for the lay-up to tie the game little more than a minutes in the half, and on the next possession Tava drove left to right and hit a scoop lay-up from the elbow to make it 34-32. Tucker Haymond capped the run on the next possession; after Richie picked up a loose ball on the defensive end he fired it deep into Long Beach territory, connecting with Haymond under the hoop for an easy bucket.
LaMont made the Broncos' first two free throws of the half at 11:52 to put his team ahead 47-41, and Tava put WMU ahead 51-46 after Brown made a slick bounce pass to him on the fast break with 8:29 remaining. From there the Broncos went cold, scoring just four points the rest of the game as the 49ers closed out the contest on a 27-4 run.
The first half was fairly even throughout, with the Broncos at one point owning a seven-point lead on Long Beach. A six-point swing came with 7:57 remaining in the half, when Brown drew an intentional foul from McKay LaSalle on a fast break lay-up attempt. Long Beach State coach Dan Monson came out to argue to the call and was immediately assessed with a technical foul, giving the Broncos four free throws – all makes – and possession of the ball. LaMont pulled own an offensive rebound on the possession and tipped it back in to make it 23-16, giving the Broncos six points in just 21 seconds. The lead didn't last, though, as Lamb tied the score at 25 with a lay-up and LaSalle drilled a three-pointer on the next possession. Brown knocked down a trey on the Broncos' final possession to make the halftime score 31-30 in favor of the 49ers.
