AKRON, Ohio – Despite a 30-point performance from junior guard Michael Flowers the Western Michigan men's basketball team was unable to overcome its first half deficit in an 84-69 loss at Akron on Tuesday night.

Flowers notched his second 30-point game of the season and third of his career on 8-of-14 shooting from the field with five three-pointers. The Southfield, Mich., native was also 9-of-11 from the free-throw line and recorded four rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes of action. Flowers scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half.

Entering the starting line-up for the first time as a Bronco, fellow junior Rafael Cruz Jr. scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Cruz Jr. was 3-of-4 from the free-throw line against the Zips and had three rebounds to go along with two assists.

Rounding out the trio of Broncos in double figures was redshirt junior Brandon Johnson who nearly posted a double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds. Johnson was 4-of-9 from the field and connected on one three-pointer. The Chicago, Ill., native earned two assists while having two blocks and now has 18 total blocks on the season.

The freshman duo of Titus Wright and Chase Barrs had similar stat lines, both scoring four points with two rebounds on 2-of-3 shooting from the field. Redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens and sophomore William Boyer-Richard rounded out the scoring with two points each.

It was a stellar night shooting for the Broncos who shot 52.2 percent from the field including 70.8 percent in the second half. However, turnovers plagued the Brown & Gold committing 22 which led to 32 Akron points. Coming into the game WMU ranked 30th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers at 11.4 per game.

Western Michigan was narrowly outrebounded 32-30 but Akron controlled the offensive glass, 9-4. The Broncos knocked down seven three-pointers compared to Akron's 11 while the Brown & Gold was 14-of-19 from the charity stripe.

WMU suffers its first loss in Mid-American Conference play and now has an overall record of 8-7, 1-1 in conference play. The Broncos continue their road swing with a match-up against MAC West foe Toledo on Saturday, Jan. 11.

In their MAC home opener, the Zips got off to a fast start, holding the Broncos scoreless the first three minutes of play to take a 9-0 lead. Akron made five of its first eight field goals and held a 14-2 advantage at the 14:55 mark of the first half.

Two minutes later the Broncos cut the Akron lead down to single digits after back-to-back lay-ups from Boyer-Richard and Johnson. After two made free-throws from Flowers the Broncos trailed 19-10 at the halfway point of the first half.

The two teams struggled to make shots after the halfway point as both teams were held scoreless from the field for nearly three minutes as Akron held on to a 27-15 lead with 4:16 remaining. Western Michigan shot just 31.8 percent from the field in the first half as WMU trailed Akron, 37-23.

The Broncos started the second half with a flurry of points as freshman Titus Wright scored five straight to cut the Akron deficit down to 37-28. The Zips responded with a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 42-28 with 16:56 left to play.

From that point on WMU couldn't miss, making its next eight field goals to slim the Akron lead down to seven with 12:19 remaining. The hot shooting was led by Flowers who during the run scored 10 straight points including back-to-back three's.

At the midway point of the second half both team's offenses couldn't be stopped as WMU and Akron went a combined 11-of-12 from the field with the Zips holding on to a 65-54 lead with 7:48 to play. WMU made seven straight field goals to cut its deficit down to 12 with 4:43 left before Akron drilled one of its seven threes' on the night to halt a WMU comeback.

Down the stretch Western Michigan made 11 of its final 15 field goals but was unable to mount a comeback as Akron secured the 84-69 victory. The Brown & Gold shot 70.8 percent from the field in the second half and a staggering 75 percent from long distance.