KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team turned it on late in order to win their fifth straight game, and the Broncos defeated the Miami RedHawks 68-57 in University Arena on Saturday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 16-8 on the season, including a 9-3 mark in Mid-American Conference play.
Austin Richie recorded 20 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, and also added a 10-of-12 night from the free throw line to post the game-high total. Shayne Whittington registered his eighth double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, and David Brown and Connar Tava added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Broncos maintained their sharp defensive edge against the RedHawks, forcing 19 turnovers and holding Miami to just a 37.5 shooting night from the field. WMU won the battle on the glass with a 38-25 advantage in rebounding, and the Broncos shot 28-of-37 from the free throw line; by comparison, the RedHawks were only able to get to the charity stripe 11 times.
Miami briefly took the lead in the middle of the second half, going up 43-42 on the Broncos thanks to a three-pointer from Will Sullivan at the 8:47 mark. WMU took the lead back less than a minute later when Whittington tipped in a missed lay-up from Von Washington, and Tava scored on a fast break lay-up at the 7:32 mark to extend the Broncos' lead back to three points. Whittington knocked down a 15-foot baseline jumper to make it 50-45, Tucker Haymond tipped in his own offensive rebound to stretch the lead to nine points, and the Broncos closed out a 15-2 run with three straight free throw makes from Richie to make it 57-45. The lead reached its apex with 40 seconds to play, with Richie again getting to the line after being fouled by Sullivan; he sank one of two tosses from the charity stripe to put the Broncos ahead 68-55.
Miami opened the game on a 7-1 run, but Richie helped bridge the gap with a three-pointer from the deep left wing to make it a three-point game at the 13:25 mark. Richie cut the deficit to just one point with another three from the same spot exactly two minutes later, making it 7-6. WMU finally pulled even with the RedHawks on a pair of Jared Klein free throws to make it 9-9, and Tava gave the Broncos their first lead of the game with a lay-up off the glass to make it 13-11. Whittington threw down a monster dunk at the 5:41 mark to make it a two-possession game, and put back a miss to give the Broncos a 17-11 lead. Brown capped the 9-0 run with a free throw make, giving WMU a 19-11 advantage with 4:37 remaining.
Richie continued his torrid play late in the first half, making a runner in the lane to make it 22-16 with 2:38 to play. Whittington added a pair of free throws on the next possession, and Tava topped off the short 6-0 run with a lay-up off a feed from Brown. Whittington converted an alley-oop to push the lead to 10 points, giving WMU a 28-18 lead; the RedHawks' Will Sullivan responded with a three-pointer on the opposite end, though, and McKnight made a hook shot with less than 30 seconds to play to cut the lead to five points. Brown tacked on a free throw near the end of the half to set the halftime edge at 29-23 in favor of the Broncos.
