ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on the road Monday night at the hands of Oakland, who came away with the 77-60 win at O'Rena.
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"They were getting rebounds and getting out on fast breaks off of our missed shots and they got some really good looks on those fast breaks," Head coach Steve Hawkins said. "We are going to have some bumps and bruises along with the way with the team that we have this season, but it's the response those that I am really looking at."
"We're going to look towards the next possession and get ready to take on Villanova, the National Champions, on Thursday," Hawkins added.
The Golden Grizzlies, who are one of the top teams in the Horizon League, stayed perfect this season at 2-0, while the Broncos fall to 1-1. Oakland also snapped a four-game losing streak to WMU.
Oakland, who led by four at the break, used a big second half to pull away from WMU, where it outscored the Brown & Gold 47-34. The Broncos used a 10-2 run late in the second half to cut the deficit to 10, but Oakland's lead was too large to overcome. The Grizzlies were held to 2-for-13 from beyond the arc to open the game, but hit four straight in the second half to open up a double-digit lead.
Sophomore Seth Dugan was all over the glass, grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds with six coming on the offensive end. He also finished Junior Thomas Wilder paced the Broncos with 13 points while senior Tucker Haymond and freshman Brandon Johnson each had 12. Johnson was very efficient from the floor, going 6-for-8 and adding a pair of dunks. Freshman Jarrin Randall chipped in a career-high eight points and hit two of the Broncos three 3-pointers.
The Grizzlies' Martez Walker led all scorers with 21 points while Jalen Hayes added 18. Oakland went 6-for-11 from 3-point range in the second half. The Broncos won the rebounding battle 40-34 and each team hit 13 free throws
The schedule doesn't get any easier for WMU, who will take on the defending National Champions Villanova on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 11:30 a.m. in the ESPN Gildan Charleston Classic from Charleston, S.C. Following the game with Villanova, the Broncos will either face UTEP or Wake Forest depending on a win or loss on Friday.
