TOLEDO, Ohio – Trailing by as many as 19 in the second half, the Western Michigan men's basketball team cut its deficit down to three with under two minutes remaining before falling to Toledo 76-73 in the First Round of the Mid-American Conference Championship on Monday night. 

Trailing 64-48 with just under eight minutes to go, the Broncos rallied back with a 13-2 run to cut their deficit down to five with 5:15 remaining. After the two teams traded baskets, junior guard Michael Flowers scored five straight points as WMU made six of its eight field goals during a three-minute stretch to cut Toledo's lead down to 70-66 with 2:42 remaining.

Western Michigan trimmed the Rocket lead down to one with 1:50 left after Flowers knocked down one of his four three-pointers on the night. Toledo responded on the next possession with a tip-in lay-up to gain a 72-69 advantage with one minute to go. Trailing by three, the Broncos registered a costly turnover that led to a fast break dunk and helped Toledo secure the 76-73 victory.

Offensively the Broncos were led by a career performance from junior Michael Flowers, who scored a career-high 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field. Flowers scored 21 of his 34 points in the second half while knocking down four three-pointers and was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

It was the fourth 30-point performance of Flowers' career and third this season. It was the second 30-point outing for Flowers during conference play with the Southfield, Mich., native scoring 30 back on Jan. 7 at Akron.

Redshirt junior Brandon Johnson etched his name into the Western Michigan record books on Monday night by becoming the 44^th member of WMU's 1,000-point club. Johnson, with a free-throw at the 9:34 mark of the first half, became the 44^th member and the second player on the 2019-20 roster to score over 1,000, joining Flowers. Johnson ended the night going 7-of-14 from the field and had seven rebounds while matching his career-high with four blocks.

Johnson reached the 1K mark in 93 career games, making 92 starts. Johnson has played over 2,500 minutes for the Brown & Gold and is a career 48.6 percent shooter from the field. Johnson for his career is averaging 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

The duo of Johnson and Flowers combined to score 54 of WMU's 73 points, accounting for nearly 74 percent of the Broncos total offense.

Leading the Broncos on the glass for the fifth time this season was freshman Titus Wright. Wright matched his career-high with 11 rebounds to go along with eight points, two assists and one block in 27 minutes.

Off the bench, WMU was led by junior Rafael Cruz Jr. with five points, five rebounds and six assists. Cruz Jr.'s six assists were one shy of his career high. The trio of redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens, senior Jared Printy and sophomore Patrick Emilien each scored two points in the three-point loss to the Rockets.

As a team the Broncos shot 43.8 percent from field and were 6-of-20 from long distance. Western Michigan outrebounded Toledo 43-37 and forced the Rockets to commit eight turnovers, scoring 12 points off of Rocket mistakes.  WMU was 11-of-14 from the free-throw line on Monday night and scored 34 of its 73 points in the paint.

Western Michigan falls in the first round of the MAC Championship for the third straight year and ends the season with an overall record of 13-19 and 6-12 in conference play.

Toledo raced out of the gate to begin the game embarking on a 9-0 run to take a 11-2 lead at the 15:30 mark. Ultimately the Rockets went on a 13-2 run, making eight of their first 15 field goals to gain a 20-8 advantage at the 12-minute mark of the first half. The two teams went back and forth through the midway part of the first half prior to Johnson scoring four straight points to cut the Toledo lead down to 36-23 with four minutes remaining.

Western Michigan clawed its way back into the game late in the first half, going on a 10-0 run while holding Toledo scoreless for nearly three minutes en route to a 36-31 deficit. To end the half both teams knocked down three-pointers as Toledo went into halftime with a 41-34 lead. The duo of Flowers and Johnson combined to score 30 of WMU's 34 points in the first half.

It was yet another slow start for the Broncos in the second half as Toledo made its first four field goals to take a 51-34 lead just four minutes into the second half. WMU once again clawed its way back. After a four-point play from Flowers, the Broncos trailed 59-48 with 9:17 remaining.

Behind 64-48 with just under eight minutes remaining, the Bronco offense came to life with a 13-2 run to slim the Rocket lead down to 66-61 with five minutes left to play. The two teams traded baskets before Flowers scored five straight points to cut the WMU deficit down to four with 2:46 remaining.

After a Toledo miss, Flowers knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the Rocket lead down to one at 70-69.  A tip-in lay-up gave Toledo a three-point lead with 1:19 left prior to a WMU turnover on its next possession that led to a fast break dunk for the Rockets.

Western Michigan was unable to mount a comeback at the end as Toledo made just two of its final 10 field goals en route to a 76-73 victory.