HARRISONBURG, Va.- The Western Michigan men's basketball team ran out of gas in the second half suffering a 63-57 loss at James Madison Thursday evening.

After leading by two at the half, 29-27, the Broncos were outscored by eight in the second half where they shot just 28.1 percent from the field.

Western Michigan has endured a grueling schedule to open the season, playing eight games over 20 days, including road trips to North Carolina, Nashville and Virginia over the last two weeks. The Broncos are 3-5 through their first eight games, with all five losses being decided by eight points or less.

“We have been on the road a ton and other than playing one non-Division I there hasn't been a patsy on our schedule,” said WMU head coach Steve Hawkins. “We haven't lost one game due to a lack of effort. We are getting there.

“I thought James Madison did a terrific job in the second half defending us and we ran into some tired legs. In a game like this it doesn't take much to win it or lose it. There was a stretch they kind of took off and then we were playing catch up and they had just enough to keep us at an arm's distance the rest of the way."

James Madison entered the game ranked 10th in the nation in three-pointers made and in the top 20 for three-point percentage, but it was the Broncos who used the long ball to stay ahead in the first half. Five of WMU's first 10 field goals were three's and the team shot 50 percent from behind the arc in the first half.

Coming off a performance this past Sunday in which he downed a career-high five three's, senior Jared Klein hit two triples late in the first half to help Western Michigan build a slight lead. A tip-in by sophomore Drake LaMont put WMU up six with 2:09 left in the half.

A layup by JMU's Yohanny Dalembert and a drive to the bucket by the Dukes' Ron Curry following a Bronco turnover cut the deficit to two at the half, 29-27.

Tied 33-33, James Madison went on its first big run in the second half with 15:53 remaining, outscoring WMU 13-4 over the next six minutes. Down by nine, WMU sophomore point guard Thomas Wilder hit three's on back-to-back possessions to pull the Broncos within three, 46-43, with 8:52 to go.

A four-minute dry spout for the Broncos and a couple of big shots by James Madison helped the Dukes push their lead back up to 11 with 5:15 left to play. Western Michigan got within four points with 2:35 remaining, but that would be as close as WMU would come.

Wilder finished with 18 points, four rebounds and tied a career-high with six assists. Junior Tucker Haymond recorded 10 points and junior Kellen McCormick hit three triples for nine points. LaMont and freshman Seth Dugan tied for a team-best eight rebounds.

The Bronco bench outscored JMU's 20-3 in the first half, accounting for 20 of WMU's 29 points at halftime, but had just five points the rest of the game.

James Madison had three players score in double figures, led by Ron Curry with a game-high 21 points. The Dukes (6-3 record) have now won their last four in a row.

WMU shot 33.3 percent from the floor while James Madison hit 35.7. Both teams recorded 39 rebounds.

Western Michigan returns to Kalamazoo and begins a three-game homestand that includes Northeastern (Dec. 7), Marygrove (Dec. 12) and IPFW (Dec. 22). WMU closes out the 2015 calendar year returning to Nashville to face Vanderbilt on Dec. 30.