TOLEDO, Ohio – Redshirt sophomore
Markeese Hastings grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, but the Western Michigan men's basketball team fell, 83-56, at Toledo in the two teams' Mid-American Conference opener on Wednesday night at Savage Arena.
Of Hastings' 18 rebounds, 11 came on the offensive glass, as he helped Western Michigan (4-8, 0-1) to a season-high 17 offensive rebounds. His 18 boards were the most by a Bronco since Seth Dugan collected 20 on March 2, 2019, against Ball State. Hastings also added nine points, coming one point shy of his second double-double.
Lamar Norman Jr. led the Broncos in scoring for the ninth time this season, netting 10 points to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 10 games in a row.
Titus Wright chipped in nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocks, while
Gus Etchison and
Josiah Freeman contributed eight points apiece.
Holding a 5-4 edge in the early going, Toledo (9-3, 1-0) made nine consecutive field goals as part of a 24-6 surge which pushed the hosts' advantage to 29-10 just past the halfway mark of the period. The margin grew to as high as 20, 32-12, in the first half, but Western Michigan held the Rockets without a basket for a stretch of over four-and-a-half minutes to work it down to a 15-point margin, 40-25, going into the locker room.
Toledo began the second half with a 9-0 run, boosting its advantage to 49-25 in the opening minutes of the period. Six straight from WMU brought the visitors to within 54-33 with 13:20 to play, but Western Michigan could not get any closer.
The Broncos were held to 18-of-56 (32.1 percent) shooting, while the Rockets connected on 32-of-70 (45.7 percent) from the field. Western Michigan knocked down 18 of its season-high 24 free throw attempts (75.0 percent).
WMU returns to University Arena on Saturday, Jan. 1, for a 3:30 pm tip against Ohio. The game will be streamed live on
ESPN3 and the
Bronco Media Network.
To purchase tickets to any Western Michigan men's basketball home game this season, visit
wmubroncos.com/tickets, or call 1-888-4-WMU-TIX.
