KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Hitting the court for the first time in 2019 the Western Michigan men's basketball team defeated Kalamazoo College, 76-56 in its lone exhibition on Saturday afternoon inside University Arena.

As a team the Broncos shot 43.1 percent from the field against the Hornets and connected on eight three-pointers. WMU saw two players score in double figures with redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens leading the way with a game-high 21. Whitens was 7-of-8 from the field and also poured in five rebounds and two assists.

Making his debut in front of the home crowd, freshman Titus Wright nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Fellow freshman B. Artis White ranked third on the team with seven points to go along with one rebound, one assist and two steals.

Sophomore Patrick Emilien led the Broncos on the glass with 10 rebounds, five of which coming on the offensive end. Emilien ended with five points in 21 minutes. Off the bench, WMU outscored Kalamazoo College, 29-21 as sophomore Luke Toliver led the way with seven points in just three minutes.

The Broncos forced the Hornets to commit 16 turnovers on the day, resulting in 29 points off of those turnovers. WMU also dominated the paint outscoring K-College, 30-20.

Western Michigan begins the 2019-20 regular season at home on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. against McNeese State. For ticket information, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.

It was a back and forth affair to begin the first half as the two teams were knotted up at 5-5 before Wright converted an and-one to give the Broncos a three-point advantage under the 16-minute mark. Once grabbing the lead, the Brown & Gold pulled away as WMU embarked on a 19-3 run to take a 26-10 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

Down the stretch of the first half, the Hornets responded with a flurry of points highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Bronco lead down to 34-24 heading into the locker room. K-College cut its deficit down to single digits before White nailed a lay-up at the buzzer to increase the WMU lead to 10.

In the second half, the Hornets got to within 10 of the Broncos' but was unable to get the game back to single digits. Midway through the second half sophomore William Boyer-Richard dropped in a floater from the free-throw line to extend WMU's lead to 20 at 55-35. The floater highlighted a 14-2 run by the Broncos.

Near the end of the second half, Kalamazoo College made five of their last seven field goals but was unable to mount a comeback. The Broncos responded making four of their last five field goals to secure the 76-56 exhibition victory.