KALAMAZOO, Mich. -
Connar Tava made the go-ahead bucket with 9.0 seconds remaining on the clock, and the Western Michigan men's basketball team secured a big stop at the end of the game to hold off the Kent State Golden Flashes for a 67-66 victory at University Arena. The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Broncos and improves them to 14-8 overall on the season, 5-4 in Mid-American Conference play.
Kent State led by as many as eight points in the second half and held a 66-62 lead with 1:24 remaining in regulation before the Broncos' closed the game on a 5-0 run. After Devareaux Manley drained a three-pointer from the corner to make it a four-point game, David Brown countered with a trey of his own to make it 66-65. The Broncos got a key stop on the ensuing defensive possession and got the ball trailing by one point with 34 seconds remaining on the clock. After a Golden Flash defender kicked an inlet pass to give WMU possession on the baseline with 13.4 seconds remaining, Tava bulled his way past a defender in the post and made a left-handed hook shot to put the Broncos ahead 67-66 with 9.0 seconds to play.
Thomas Wilder made a wise decision on the defensive end on the next possession, fouling Manley while the Broncos had a foul to give to halt the Golden Flashes' momentum and pin them on the sideline near midcourt with 3.0 seconds to go. Manley took the inbounds but just narrowly missed a runner as time expired, giving the Broncos the one-point win.
Tava finished with 16 points, all in the second half, while also recording four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Tucker Haymond scored a team-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and David Brown contributed 16 points, three assists and two steals. Kellen McCormick came off the bench for eight points.
Kent State took an eight-point advantage off a jumper by Derek Jackson at the 8:44 mark but WMU responded with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to one possession, capping the rally with a Wilder steal and a fast break lay-up by Brown. Haymond cut it to 60-58 with a scoop-shot lay-up at the 4:12 mark, and Tava kept it a one-possession ballgame with a lay-up to make it 63-60. The teams traded buckets, giving the Golden Flashes a lead with under a minute to go and setting up Tava's heroics late in the game.
The two defenses controlled the tempo early on, but the Golden Flashes took a 6-2 lead after a three-pointer from Derek Jackson at the at the 16:38 mark of the first half. Mario Matasovic tied it at 6-6 two minutes later with a tip-in off an offensive rebound, and the sophomore forward sparked another trip to the free throw line for WMU by hauling in another offensive board and kicking it to Wilder, who drew contact from Kris Brewer on the way to the hoop. Wilder and Haymond put the Broncos ahead 10-6 with 13:36 remaining after Drake LaMont tipped away an inlet pass from Jackson; Wilder picked up the loose change and dished to Haymond on the fast break, who twisted around his defender and laid it in.
The Golden Flashes re-took the lead on an old-fashioned three-point play with 8:12 to go in the half, with Gary Akbar scoring through contact by LaMont and sinking the free throw to make it 20-18. McCormick responded with a three-pointer from midcourt to give WMU the lead, and Haymond made it 24-23 with a trey as the shot clock wound down late in the half. McCormick made his second three-pointer of the period to put the Broncos ahead 27-25, but Manley made three off an inbounds play with time expiring to put the Golden Flashes ahead 28-27 at the break.
Brown finally took the lid off the hoop early in the second half, taking a kickout from Tava and draining a jumper to tie the game at 30 with 17:12 remaining in the half. He struck again with 16:11 to go, knocking down a three-pointer immediately off an inbounds play to take a 33-32 lead. The Golden Flashes took a 41-35 lead on a fastbreak lay-up by Kris Brewer, but Brown cut the lead to five points at the 11:49 mark with a lay-up through traffic after Taylor Perry pulled in an offensive carom. Brown sparked a fast break on the next possession by stealing a pass from Brewer and dishing to Perry for a lay-up to make it 45-41.
