Fans, tickets for Saturday's 2014 MAC Championship game are still available! Ensure you will be able to sit with other Bronco fans by purchasing tickets at Quicken Loans Arena in the arcade entrance, starting at 5:30 p.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - David Brown banked in a three-pointer from the head of the key with 32 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Western Michigan men's basketball team erased an 18-point deficit to advance to within one win of the NCAA Tournament with a 64-60 overtime win over the Akron Zips on Friday. With the win, the Broncos improve to 22-9 on the season; they will play in the 2014 MAC Tournament championship game on Saturday, March 15. Tip-off time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with the game airing on ESPN2.
WMU trailed by as many as 18 points in the game, but the Broncos out-scored the Zips 35-18 in the second half to stun Akron and send the game to overtime. The Zips jumped out to a three-point lead to start the extra period, but Brown banked a long three-pointer off the glass with less than a minute remaining to give WMU a 60-55 lead. Brown added another point at the free throw line down the stretch, and the Broncos staved off the Zips the rest of the way to advance to the MAC championship game.
Shayne Whittington finished with game-highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season, as the senior shot 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Tava recorded 16 points and 12 rebounds, marking the second time this season that Tava and Whittington each recorded double-doubles in the same game. Brown finished with 16 points as well, posting nine in the overtime period.
The Zips dominated the first half, doubling up on the Broncos for a 34-17 advantage at the break. The lead went all the way to 18 points when Deji Ibitayo scored on a putback lay-up with 17:52 left in regulation to make it 37-19 in favor of Akron, but the Broncos began chipping away in earned just a few minutes later. WMU trailed 41-26 with 15:23 to play, but was energized by an alley-oop dunk from Whittington, who took a lob from Tava and jammed it at the 14:52 mark. The Broncos proceeded to take a pair of charges from Nick Harney and Carmelo Betancourt to further fuel the fire, and Tava cut the lead to 43-32 with a lay-up at the 12:05 mark.
The real rally began just a few minutes later, starting with a pair of free throw makes by Whittington to cut the lead to 13 points. Tava tipped in his own offensive rebound to make it 47-36, and the advantage dipped into single digits when Whittington again delivered a pair from the free throw line. Tucker Haymond made a monster three-pointer from the wing at the 6:38 mark to make it 47-41, and Whittington tipped in his own miss with five minutes to play to make it just a two-point game.
Haymond delivered again less than a minute later, making another clutch three pointer to give WMU the 48-47 lead with 3:17 remaining. He went on to add a jumper that rattled around the rim and dropped in to make it a three-point lead, but the Zips tied it up on a make from Demetrius Treadwell with 39 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
