ATHENS, Ohio – A slow start to the second half hampered the Western Michigan men's basketball team on Tuesday night in an 81-58 loss at Ohio inside the Convocation Center.

The Broncos shot a staggering 50 percent from the field and behind the three-point line in the first half but was held to just 27 points and 32.1 percent shooting from the field in the second half. Overall WMU shot 40.4 percent from the field and was 8-of-25 from long distance.

Leading the way and scoring in double figures for the sixth time this season was senior Greg Lee with 17 points. Lee was 7-of-12 from the field on Tuesday night to go along with seven rebounds and two assists. The Rockford, Ill., native scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half, connecting on his first five field goal attempts.

Behind Lee was the duo of junior William Boyer-Richard and freshman Josiah Freeman with nine points. Boyer-Richard had five of his nine points in the first half and was 2-of-4 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Freeman was 3-of-7 from the field with a career-high three three-pointers.

Off the bench freshman Daylan Hamilton had seven points followed by junior Patrick Emilien with five and redshirt junior Jason Whitens with four. Returning to action sophomore B. Artis White registered just three points while both redshirt junior Kawanise Wilkins and junior Luke Toliver each had two.

Lee led the Broncos with seven rebounds followed by Wilkins with six and Freeman with three. Boyer-Richard led WMU with four assists as the Broncos overall registered a season-high 17 assists.

WMU was outrebounded 42-33 with Ohio holding a 13-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Broncos once again got a healthy contribution from its bench with 23 and are now averaging 33.3 bench points over the last three games. The Brown & Gold were hindered by 16 turnovers to Ohio's six with the Bobcats scoring 16 points off of Bronco mistakes.

Western Michigan now has an overall record of 2-10 and 1-6 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos continue MAC play on the road on Saturday, Jan. 30 at Miami. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.

It was a fast start for WMU as the Brown & Gold made its first six field goals to jump out to a 14-10 lead just five minutes into the game. It was the duo of senior Greg Lee and junior William Boyer-Richard that did much of the damage through the first five minutes of play. Lee had nine of WMU's 14 points while Boyer-Richard had five.

After the fast start WMU went scoreless the next three minutes as Ohio rallied back to take a 15-14 lead. The two teams traded baskets as Ohio made four of its next five field goals to tie the game at 19 near the halfway point of the first half. The Bobcats regained the lead thanks to a 6-0 run and held a 23-19 advantage with eight minutes remaining.

To end the half Ohio embarked on a 7-0 run, making five of its final eight field goals to earn a 43-31 heading into the locker room. WMU went scoreless the final 2:18 of the first half and was plagued by turnovers with eight in the first 20 minutes of play.

Ohio continued its momentum from the first in to the second half as the Bobcats embarked on a 10-2 run to earn a 53-33 lead. The Bobcat lead continued to grow midway through the second half as WMU made just one of its first 10 field goals. Midway through the second half, Ohio earned its largest lead of the game at 26.  

The Broncos continued to battle and made six of their next eight field goals to cut the Ohio lead down to 75-56 with just over three minutes remaining. That was the closest the Broncos got in the second half as Ohio pulled away for the 81-58 victory. WMU shot just 32.1 percent in the second half and was 2-of-13 from behind the three-point line.