BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Western Michigan men's basketball had four players in double figures and shot a staggering 51.7 percent from the field but three made free-throws by Bowling Green with 4.7 seconds left lifted the Falcons past the Broncos, 83-81 on Tuesday night inside the Stroh Center.
Leading by one with 30 seconds left the Brown & Gold had a chance to extend their lead to three as sophomore
Brandon Johnson got off a jumper in the paint that rattled off the front of the rim. On the ensuing possession, BGSU's Antwon Lillard shot a three from the left wing and was fouled on the attempt.
Lillard made all three from the free-throw line to give the Falcons a two-point advantage. WMU inbounded the ball to sophomore
Reggie Jones who raced up the floor and got off a three from the top of the key that fell just short.
Western Michigan falls to 15-11 overall and 7-6 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos hit the road once again on Saturday, Feb. 17 against MAC West foe Northern Illinois.
The Broncos had four score in double figures on Tuesday against the Falcons with senior guard
Thomas Wilder leading the way with 18 points. Wilder also tallied five assists to go along with six steals. It's the second time this season the Montgomery, Ill., native has recorded six steals.
Junior
Josh Davis scored 15 points with 11 coming in the first half. Davis was 4-of-5 from the field and knocked down three from long distance. Fellow junior
Seth Dugan had a big night off the bench for the Broncos recording 11 points along with seven rebounds, six of which were offensive.
Sophomore
Brandon Johnson scored 11 points on 50 percent (5-of-10) shooting from the field. Johnson scored nine of his 11 points in the second half while also corralling three rebounds. Senior
Drake LaMont registered six points to go along with four rebounds and three assists.
As a team, WMU shot a staggering 51.7 percent from the field and was 8-of-16 from the three-point line. In the first half, the Broncos shot 54.5 percent compared to 48.1 percent in the second half. Defensively, the Brown & Gold forced BGSU to commit 10 turnovers, scoring 15 points off those turnovers.
???????BGSU outrebounded WMU, 31-29 with both teams collecting 11 offensive rebounds. In the paint, WMU outscored BGSU, 36-30 and had 17 second chance points to the BGSU's, 12. The Falcons were led by Justin Turner who had a game-high 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
It was all WMU in the first half as the Broncos shot 54.5 percent from the field and connected on six three-pointers. The game was tied at 6-6 through the first five minutes before a furious pace of play broke out between the Broncos and the Falcons. The first media timeout came at the ten-minute mark of the first half with WMU leading 18-16.
Out of the timeout WMU embarked on a 7-1 run to extend its lead to 25-18 with seven minutes to go and ultimately went on a 14-3 run to grab their largest lead of the game at 15 with one minute to play in the first. The Broncos went into halftime with a 45-34 lead.
BGSU stormed right back to begin the second half with a 10-0 run to cut the Bronco lead to one. WMU continued to hang on to its one-point lead thanks to making six straight field goals midway through the second.
WMU led by four with 2:45 left before BGSU went on a quick 5-0 run to grab their first lead since 18:17 of the first half. With a minute left, Wilder was fouled after driving the lane and made both free-throws to give the Broncos a one-point lead.
After BGSU missed a three-pointer on the next possession, Johnson got off a shot in the paint that rattled off the front of the rim. With under 30 seconds to play, BGSU's Lillard was fouled on a three-point shot by Wilder that led to three made free-throws with 4.7 seconds left.
Jones heaved a three-pointer from straight on as the buzzer sounded but it fell just short at BGSU grabbed the two-point victory. In the game, WMU had 22 fouls compared to BGSU's, 14.
