MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.  – In its final regular season game of the 2019-20 campaign the Western Michigan men's basketball team fell to in-state rival Central Michigan 85-68 on Friday night inside McGuirk Arena.

WMU concludes the regular season with an overall record of 13-18 and a 6-12 record in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos clinched the No.10 seed in the MAC Tournament will travel to No.7 seed and MAC West foe Toledo for the first round on Monday, March 9.

The Broncos had three players score in double figures against the Chippewas with junior Michael Flowers leading the way with 17 points. Flowers scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half and finished the game 7-of-14 from the field. Flowers in 37 minutes had four rebounds to go along with three assists.

Behind Flowers was redshirt junior Brandon Johnson who went 5-of-13 from the field for 15 points. Johnson nearly notched a double-double with nine rebounds and had one assist, one steal and one block. As the regular season ends Johnson needs just three points to become the 44^th member of WMU's 1,000-point club.

Rounding out the double digit scoring trio was junior Rafael Cruz Jr. off the bench with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field. Cruz Jr. was also 4-of-5 from the free-throw line while corralling three rebounds. The duo of freshman B. Artis White and redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens each tallied nine points with White knocking down two three-pointers.

Freshman Titus Wright also had six points to go along with three rebounds in 14 minutes. Off the bench sophomore Patrick Emilien was 1-of-3 from the field for two points and ranked second on the team with five rebounds.

As a team the Broncos shot 43.3 percent from the field and was just 4-of-14 from behind the three-point line. WMU held a 40-32 advantage in the paint over CMU while the Chippewas had 17 fast break points to WMU's 12. The Broncos were narrowly outrebounded 39-38 but had 17 turnovers to CMU's 12.

WMU got off to a fast start as freshman Titus Wright scored four of the first six points for the Brown & Gold to take a 6-3 lead. The Chippewas clawed back and gained its first lead of the ballgame at the 15-minute mark thanks to a 6-0 run and holding WMU scoreless from the field for nearly three minutes.

Overall CMU embarked on an 11-2 run over five minutes of action to gain a 12-8 advantage at the 12:39 mark. The Broncos tied up the game at the 11-minute mark as junior Rafael Cruz Jr. converted an and-one. The Chippewas once again responded with seven straight to hold a 19-12 lead.

CMU grabbed its first double digit lead of the night with 5:10 remaining in the first half before a three from White followed by a dunk from Emilien cut the Bronco deficit down to 29-24 with 3:27 remaining. To end the half WMU made three of its final four field goals as WMU trailed 33-29 heading into the locker room.

It was a fast and furious start for both teams to begin the second half as both teams went a combined 8-of-10 from the field en route to WMU holding a 44-37 lead at the 16:50 mark. WMU cut its deficit down to three after a jumper from Whitens at the 15:40 mark prior to CMU knocking down back-to-back three's to widen its lead to 50-41.

After Johnson made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line the Broncos trailed 51-46 with 13 minutes remaining before CMU embarked on a 21-5 run making seven of its next eight field goals to earn a 65-46 lead at the halfway point of the second half.

Western Michigan countered with a 9-2 run after a corner three from White to slim the Chippewas lead down to 67-55 with six minutes remaining. However, WMU was unable to inch closer as CMU made four of its next five field goals to widen its lead. Down the stretch WMU went scoreless from the field the final two minutes as CMU secured an 85-68 home win.