KALAMAZOO, Mich. – In the final game of the regular season the Western Michigan men's basketball fell to in-state foe Eastern Michigan 64-63 in a heartbreaker on Friday night inside University Arena.

Trailing by four with 30 seconds left WMU freshman guard Josiah Freeman knocked down the last of his five three-pointers on the night to trim the Eastern Michigan lead down to one. After EMU went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line on the ensuing possession, senior forward hit a 15-foot jumper from the free-throw line with 5.8 seconds remaining to tie the game at 63.

Inbounding the ball with 5.8 left the Eagles traveled the length of the floor and threw it to the corner where EMU's Noah Morgan was fouled on a three-point attempt with 0.9 seconds remaining. Morgan made the first free-throw to give EMU the lead before intentionally missing the next two free-throws to secure the 64-63 win.

For the 11^th time this season the Broncos had three players score in double figures led by freshman Josiah Freeman. Freeman off the bench in 21 minutes had a career-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. The freshman guard was 5-of-7 from
behind the three-point line and earned his second career double-digit scoring game.

Behind Freeman in scoring was senior forward Greg Lee who notched his fourth double-double of the season. Lee scored 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field against the Eagles while recording 11 rebounds. Lee scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half and ends the 2020-21 campaign with five straight double-digit performances.

Rounding out the double-digit scoring was sophomore Titus Wright with 12 points. Wright was just 3-of-6 from the field and went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Wright ranked second on the team with seven rebounds, three of which came on the offensive glass.

Off the bench the Broncos got a solid performance from redshirt junior Kawanise Wilkins with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Wilkins ranked third on the team with six rebounds in 22 minutes of action.

In his final game in the Brown & Gold senior Rafael Cruz Jr. scored five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field. Cruz Jr. did a little bit of everything for the Broncos on Friday night registering seven rebounds, two steals and a team-high five assists. Overall, eight of the 10 Broncos that saw the court scored on Friday night.

As a team the Broncos shot 48.1 percent from the field and was 7-of-19 from behind the three-point line. WMU outrebounded EMU 39-28 including a 9-7 advantage on the offensive glass. The bench of WMU provided a spark scoring 27 points while the Broncos scored 32 of their 63 points in the paint.

Friday's result concludes the 2020-21 season for Western Michigan as the Broncos compiled an overall record of 5-16 and 4-12 in Mid-American Conference play.

The Broncos jumped out to a 10-4 lead at the 15-minute mark of the first half, making four of their first nine field goals. The 10-4 lead for the Brown & Gold was highlighted by back-to-back dunks from Greg Lee and Titus Wright. Midway through the first half Eastern Michigan embarked on a 9-0 run over a six-minute span to gain a 13-10 lead. During the EMU run, Western Michigan was held scoreless from the field for over six minutes.

Late in the first half the Eagles embarked on a 11-0 run to gain a 24-16 advantage as WMU was held scoreless from the field for over three minutes. To end the first half, the Broncos and Eagles traded three-pointers as WMU trailed 30-21 at halftime.

It was a fast start for Eastern Michigan to begin the second half as the Eagles jumped out to their largest lead of the game (14) just two in. The Broncos began to chip away near the midway mark of the second half, making three straight field goals to cut the EMU lead down to 42-35.

With over five minutes remaining WMU continued to claw its way back and trailed 53-49 after a fast break lay-up from Wilkins along with a banked in three-pointer from Freeman. After a two-minute scoring drought by the Brown & Gold, Lee nailed a jumper to cut the Eagle lead down to 60-58 with just over 30 seconds to play.

After two made free-throws by EMU, Freeman earned his fifth three-pointer of the night to trim the Eastern Michigan lead down to 62-61 with 21 seconds left. EMU went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line on the ensuing possession leading to Lee connecting on a 15-foot jumper to tie the game at 63 with 5.8 seconds remaining.

Eastern Michigan inbounded the ball and drove the length of the court and was fouled on a three-point attempt with 0.9 seconds remaining. At the line EMU made just one of its three free-throws but was able to hold on late to secure the one-point victory.
In the second half Western Michigan outscored Eastern Michigan 42-34 as the Broncos shot a staggering 58.6 percent from the field with five three-pointers during the final 20 minutes of play.