KALAMAZOO, Mich. – After a hard-fought battle the Western Michigan men's basketball team came up short against in-state rival Oakland, 72-62 in front of its largest home crowd of the season on Tuesday inside University Arena.

WMU suffered its first home loss of the season and is now 3-1 inside University Arena. The Broncos were plagued by a cold shooting performance, going 20-of-61 (.328) from the field and 8-of-35 (.229) from the three-point line against the Golden
Grizzlies.

Late in the second half, the Broncos got to within five after a deep three-pointer from redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens before Oakland made 11 of its final 14 free-throws to secure the victory.

The Broncos were led by a trio of double digit scorers with redshirt junior Brandon Johnson notching his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Johnson's 15 rebounds matched his career-high while posting a season-high six offensive rebounds. Over the past three games the Chicago, Ill., native is averaging 16.6 points and 10.1 rebounds.

Junior Michael Flowers ranked second on the team with 12 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Flowers was 3-of-11 from the field against Oakland and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Off the bench, senior Jared Printy registered his third double-digit performance of the season with 10 points. Printy matched his season-high with three three-pointers in 20 minutes of action. Junior Rafael Cruz Jr. continued his stellar play off the bench as well, collecting eight points with two rebounds and one steal.

Western Michigan had just five turnovers against Oakland while forcing the Golden Grizzlies to commit 10 turnovers, scoring 11 points off those turnovers. It was WMU's lowest turnover output of the season and lowest since having four turnovers against Toledo back on Jan. 23, 2018.

Over half of the Broncos shots came from long distance while Oakland pounded the ball inside scoring 32 points in the paint. Oakland was led by Xavier Hill-Mais with 26 points and nine rebounds.
Western Michigan now has an overall record of 4-5 and will look to snap its four-game skid on Saturday, Dec. 7 at home against Youngstown State. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. inside University Arena.

The Broncos jumped out to an early 5-2 lead through the first four minutes of play before Oakland responded with a 6-0 run to take an 8-5 lead at the 15:37 mark. Oakland ultimately went on a 12-2 run to gain an 18-9 advantage at the halfway point of the first half.

After trading baskets, the Broncos caught fire from the field embarking on a 13-2 run to take a 20-18 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The 13-2 run was highlighted by a three-pointer from Printy to tie the game followed by a Johnson lay-up to propel the Broncos back in front.

Oakland countered with a 14-2 run to gain a double-digit lead prior to WMU making its final three field goals to slim its deficit down to six heading into halftime. While WMU made its final three field goals the Golden Grizzlies connected on seven of their final eight shots to hold a 36-30.

In the second half the Broncos raced out of the gate and after a dunk from Johnson off an assist from Whitens, WMU trailed 43-41 with 14:54 remaining. That was the closest the Broncos got in the second half as Oakland made its next three field to gain a 49-41 advantage at the midway point.

With 7:40 remaining, Printy converted a four-point play to trim the deficit down to six before Oakland answered with one of its four three-pointers on the night to widen its lead. Whitens knocked down his only three-pointer of the night to make it a five-point game with five minutes to play before Oakland made four of its next five field to extend its lead back to double digits.

Down the stretch, WMU went just 1-of-7 from the field as the Golden Grizzlies made 11 of their final 14 free-throws to secure the 72-62 victory.