KALAMAZOO, Mich. –  In a thrilling back and forth contest that came down to the last second, the Western Michigan men's basketball team fell to Akron, 79-78 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Monday inside University Arena.

Western Michigan trailed by two with 16 seconds left before a steal by junior Josh Davis fell into the hands of fellow junior Bryce Moore. Moore proceeded to bank in a three-pointer from the right side to give the Broncos a one-point lead with five seconds remaining. WMU trailed by seven with 45 seconds to go.

On the ensuing inbound, Akron's Virshon Cotton drove the length of the floor and got fouled on a lay-up attempt with 1.7 seconds remaining. Cotton made both free-throws to give the Zips a one-point lead. Cotton scored 21 points off the bench for the Zips.

After a full-court pass went out of bounds, Western Michigan got the ball into the hands of senior Thomas Wilder who got off a shot with 0.5 seconds left that just missed the front of the rim. WMU ends the season with an overall record of 17-15, the most wins since 2014.

Western Michigan led by as many as 23 in the first half including storming out to a 27-4 lead with eight minutes remaining. Akron was scoreless the first eight minutes of the game as WMU led 18-0 at the 12-minute mark.

Playing in his final game in the Brown & Gold, Wilder led the Broncos with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. The senior guard also amassed seven assists, three rebounds and two steals. Wilder ends his Bronco career as the program's second leading scorer with 2,040 career points.

Wilder was one of four Broncos to finish in double figures as sophomore Reggie Jones scored 18 points and tied a career-high with four three-pointers. Jones played 37 minutes, grabbing a team-high six rebounds to go with three assists.

Senior Drake LaMont finished in double figures in his final game as a Bronco, recording 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Moore registered 14 points along with five rebounds while knocking down four three-pointers.

As a team, WMU shot 48.1 percent from the field including a staggering 50 percent in the second half. The Broncos were magnificent from the free-throw line going 17-of-19. Akron shot 53.8 percent from the field and was led by Daniel Utomi with 26 points.

The Broncos could not have started the game any better as WMU scored the first 18 points of the game to grab an 18-0 lead with 12 minutes remaining. WMU led by 23 at the eight-minute mark of the first half before Akron embarked on a 17-0 run, making seven straight field goals to cut the Bronco lead to single digits.

Akron made nine of their last 11 field goals to end the first half as WMU held a slim 35-31 lead at halftime.

The Zips took their first lead of the ballgame at the 14-minute mark of the second half after making five straight field goals to lead 48-45. Akron ultimately made 10 of their next 12 field goals to extend their lead to double digits.

Trailing by seven with less than a minute to play, a corner three by Jones cut the Zips lead to just four with 45 seconds left. Wilder captured one of his two steals on the night to cut the Zips lead to two before Akron called a timeout with 20 seconds left.

Looking to seal the game, Akron heaved a ball across half court that was intercepted by Davis and into the hands of Moore who banked in a three-pointer to bring the University Arena crowd to its feet. The lead was short-lived as Akron's Cotton drove the length of the court and was fouled, resulting in two made free-throws and the 79-78 victory.