KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team put forth a valiant effort in a 79-68 loss to defending Mid-American Conference regular season champion Akron on Saturday night inside University Arena.

All 10 of the Broncos that hit the court against the Zips scored with senior forward Greg Lee leading the way with a career-high 22 points. Lee was an efficient 10-of-17 from the field to go along with four rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes. It was the fifth game this season in which Lee has scored in double figures.

Behind Lee in double figures was junior Adrian Martin with a career-high 11 points. Martin earning his third start of the season was 4-of-7 from the field and 1-of-2 from behind the three-point line and had two assists and one steal. It's the second time in Martin's career the junior guard has scored in double figures

Off the bench the Broncos were led by junior Luke Toliver with nine points. The Paw Paw, Mich., native was 3-of-4 from the field while knocking down two three-pointers. In 14 minutes of action Toliver corralled one rebound to go along with one assist and one steal.

Also providing valuable minutes off the bench was freshman Daylan Hamilton with a career-high eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Hamilton was also a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the three-point line. Leading WMU on the glass was junior Patrick Emilien with five rebounds. Emilien also recorded five points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field.

As a team the Broncos shot a staggering 48.2 percent from the field and was 5-of-16 from long distance. WMU was just 9-of-12 from the free-throw line compared to Akron's 23-of-31. Neither team gained an advantage on the glass with both WMU and Akron having 28 rebounds on the night. The two teams also had 26 points each in the paint.

Western Michigan forced Akron to commit 10 turnovers on the night, scoring 13 points off of Akron mistakes. Akron was led by Loren Cristian Jackson with a game-high 32 points with six assists in 35 minutes.

The Broncos now have an overall record of 2-9 and 1-5 in MAC play. WMU is on the road for two straight beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at Ohio. The Brown & Gold then travel to Oxford, Ohio to square off with Miami on Saturday, Jan. 30.

It was a back and forth affair between the Broncos and the Zips early in the first half as Akron made three straight field goals to grab an early 7-6 lead.  Western Michigan tied the game at 11 with 13 minutes left in the first half thanks in large part to senior Greg Lee. Lee scored six of the Broncos first 11 points and was 3-of-5 from the field to start the game.

At the halfway point of the first half WMU held an 18-17 lead highlighted by a three-pointer from Toliver followed by a lay-up from junior Adrian Martin. Back to back threes from Patrick Emilien and Daylan Hamilton extended WMU's lead to six prior to Akron embarking on a 10-0 run to gain a 31-27 lead with 2:30 left to play.

Down the stretch of the first half the Bronco offense caught fire, ending the half on an 11-0 run and taking a 38-31 lead into the locker room. WMU made its final three field goals as Toliver led WMU at the half with nine points.

Akron began the second half on fire, connecting on four straight field goals to tie the game at 44 with 13:35 remaining. The two teams battled back and forth midway through the second half as neither team led by more than three for nearly six minutes.
Past the midway point of the second half the Zips started to pull away from the Broncos, embarking on a 14-2 run to gain a double digit lead at 60-50 with eight minutes remaining. WMU looked to claw back into the game but a two-minute scoreless streak extend the Zips lead to 70-56.

Western Michigan cut the Akron lead down to eight with under a minute remaining after four straight points from Greg Lee. However, it was as close as the Broncos got as Akron sealed the victory making its final four free-throws to earn its sixth conference win.