KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team weathered a first-half storm, David Brown tied a University Arena record for three-pointers made in a game, and the Broncos came back from 14 points down to defeat the Ohio Bobcats 82-74 in the first round of the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament played in Kalamazoo.  The sixth-seeded Broncos improve to 20-12 overall on the season and will face seventh-seeded Akron on Wednesday, March 11 at 9 p.m.

With the win, head coach Steve Hawkins became the first coach in WMU history to post three consecutive seasons of 20+ wins.  Hawkins was integral to the only other stretch of three straight 20-win seasons in program history, with the first coming as an assistant coach in 2002-03 and the final two coming in the subsequent seasons.

Brown was a man on fire in what could be his final home game in a Bronco uniform, scoring a game-high 34 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 8-of-14 from three-point range.  The eight made three-pointers ties the University Arena record set by Marshall's Tamar Slay on Dec. 20, 1999.  Thomas Wilder came off the bench for 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and also contributed five assists and four rebounds. 

The Bobcats held a huge lead early in the game, going up 18-4 with 12:45 to play in the first half after Maurice N'Dour knocked down a three from the left corner.  The Broncos chipped away in the first half, knocking the lead down to single-digits for good with a trey by Austin Richie at the 5:11 mark and making it a one-possession game when Brown drilled a three-pointer from NBA range to make it 32-31. 

Ohio took a 46-38 lead with 15:25 to go in the second half and again built an eight-point lead when Mike Laster made a mid-range jumper at the 12:58 mark.  The comeback started in earnest when Connar Tava made a hook shot in the paint to cut it to six points, and Brown drilled two straight three-pointers to tie it at 52 with 10:49 remaining. 

Brown put the Broncos ahead for the first time in the game with a pair of free throw makes on the next offensive possession.  The teams traded the lead for several minutes until the Broncos wrestled it away for good at the 5:29 mark on a three-pointer by Brown.  He made it a 72-66 advantage with 4:06 to go with yet another three-pointer, and Wilder knocked down a spinning fadeaway jumper from the right side to make it 76-67.  Wilder gave WMU their largest lead of the evening with a drive and a lay-up to make it a 12-point edge, and the Broncos dribbled it out for the victory.