MUNCIE, Ind. – Behind a 42-point performance from the bench the Western Michigan men's basketball team was unable to mount a comeback in a 71-61 loss at Ball State on Tuesday night inside Worthen Arena.

The Broncos trailed by as many as 25 points early in the second half before the Bronco bench sparked the offense and cut the Cardinal lead down to 10 with under two minutes remaining. WMU's bench scored 32 of its 42 points in the second half and 32 of the Broncos 38 points in the second half.

Off the bench Western Michigan was led by sophomore Luke Toliver who was tied for the team lead with a career-high 12 points. Toliver was 3-of-7 from the field and knocked down two three-pointers. Toliver was also a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Heading into tonight's contest the Paw Paw, Mich., native scored just 20 points total for his career.

Along with Toliver off the bench fellow sophomore William Boyer-Richard recorded nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field with two threes. Boyer-Richard also corralled two rebounds to go along with one steal in 19 minutes of action. Sophomore Adrian Martin in 20 minutes scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field with two steals.

Ranking second off the bench was redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field in 15 minutes. Behind Whitens was junior Rafael Cruz Jr. with five points followed by senior Jared Printy with four and junior Michael Flowers with two.

Redshirt junior Brandon Johnson also matched Toliver with 12 points while being tied for the team lead with seven rebounds. Johnson was 4-of-9 from the field against the Cardinals and knocked down a career-high three from long distance. Freshman Chase Barrs matched Johnson on the board with a team-high seven rebounds, two of which came on the offensive glass.

The Broncos shot 38.9 percent from the floor on Tuesday night while matching its season-high with 12 three-pointers. Ball State outrebounded WMU, 34-28 and scored 26 of its 71 points on the fast break. WMU was plagued by turnovers, committing 18 resulting in 21 points for the Cardinals.

With three games remaining in the regular season, Western Michigan has an overall record of 11-17 and 4-11 in Mid-American Conference play. WMU returns home on Saturday, Feb. 29 against Northern Illinois before playing its home finale on Tuesday, March 3 against in-state rival Eastern Michigan. The Broncos conclude the regular season on Friday, March 6 at Central Michigan.

Ball State made five of its first six field goals to gain a double-digit lead early on the Broncos. The game was knotted at 2-2 before the Cardinals embarked on a 10-0 run to gain a 12-2 advantage at the 16:15 mark.

WMU rallied back midway through the first half as Jason Whitens rattled off four straight points to cut the Cardinal lead down to 14-6 with 12:32 to go. However, Ball State responded by making four of its next five field goals to earn a 19-7 lead. Ultimately Ball State went on a 5-0 run to register a 24-10 lead at the halfway point of the first half.

Western Michigan rallied back late in the first half, sparked by a 7-0 run to cut its deficit down to 26-18 with six minutes to play. During the 7-0 run the Broncos held the Cardinals scoreless from the field for nearly four minutes. Down the stretch, WMU made just one of its final five field goals as Ball State took a 40-23 lead into halftime.

After the Broncos scored the first bucket of the second half, the Cardinals responded with five straight points including a deep three from the top of the key to extend their lead to 45-25. With 17:32 remaining the Broncos made a switch offensively, swapping out line-ups and bringing in Barrs, Martin, Toliver, Boyer-Richard and senior Adida Ikongshul.

The new five provided a spark to the Bronco offense embarking on an 9-2 run highlighted by a Toliver three-pointer to cut Ball State's deficit down to 55-37 with 11:56 remaining. It ultimately ended up being a 17-4 run by the Broncos to trim the Cardinal lead down to 12 with 10 minutes remaining.

Off the bench the Brown & Gold forced Ball State to go just 1-of-7 from the field during a five-minute stretch as WMU trailed 64-49 with 5:44 left to play. After an Adrian Martin steal and fast break slam dunk the Broncos pulled to within 12 once again with 2:04 to go and two Toliver free-throws on a technical foul helped bring the Broncos to within 10 with 1:46 remaining.

However, that was the closest WMU got in the second half as Ball State iced the game at the free-throw line to secure the 71-61 victory. In the second half the Broncos outscored the Cardinals, 38-31.