FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team trimmed a double-digit second-half deficit down to one in the final minutes, but ultimately fell, 77-67, at Florida Gulf Coast on Friday night in the opening game of the FGCU Invitational.
 
Trailing 58-46 with just over eight minutes remaining, Western Michigan (1-4) got a quick five points from a Lamar Norman Jr. layup and Mack Smith three-pointer to get within seven, 58-51. FGCU (4-2) briefly built its advantage back to 11, 62-51, but the Broncos fought right back with a 10-0 surge, capped by a Gus Etchison triple, to make it 62-61 with 3:06 to go.
 
On the next possession, FGCU's Tavian Dunn-Martin responded with a three-pointer of his own to spark a 12-1 response which halted WMU's comeback efforts.
 
Norman led the four Broncos in double-figures with 24 points, his third 20+ point effort of the young season. Smith netted a season-high 16 points and collected a career-best four steals. Markeese Hastings and Titus Wright added 10 points apiece, and paced Western Michigan on the glass with eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
 
After a Wright lay-in got the evening's scoring started, Florida Gulf Coast netted the next eight to take an 8-2 advantage in the opening minutes of the contest. A 7-0 Western Michigan run put the Broncos back ahead, 13-10, with just over 13 minutes left in the opening stanza.
 
The two teams were tied five times and exchanged the lead a total of five times during a tightly-contest opening 20 minutes, with FGCU eventually taking a 33-31 edge into the halftime locker room.
 
Florida Gulf Coast scored the first basket of the second half, but WMU answered with seven straight points to move in front, 38-35, on a Smith three-pointer with 17:45 to go. The Eagles responded with 14 of the next 15 points to stretch the margin into double-digits for the first time, 49-39, with 13:32 left in the period.
 
For the game, Western Michigan connected on 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) from the floor, and made nine-of-27 (33.3 percent) three-point tries. WMU made 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the charity stripe. Florida Gulf Coast went 26-for-55 (47.3 percent) from the field and drained 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) from downtown. The Eagles added 15 makes in 20 attempts (75.0 percent) from the free throw line.
 
Western Michigan continues play at the FGCU Invitational on Saturday afternoon with a 4:30 pm matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne. The game is set to air on the Bronco Media Network.