HOUSTON – The Western Michigan men's basketball team held a slim lead entering the final minutes, but Rice used a late 8-0 run to upend the Broncos, 96-88, at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston on Saturday evening.
 
With 3:07 remaining, Lamar Norman Jr. hit a pair of free throws to give Western Michigan (2-3) a two-point edge, 81-79. Rice (3-2) connected on a three-pointer on its next possession to ignite an 8-0 run which put the hosts ahead 87-81 with 2:11 to play.
 
Titus Wright got the Broncos back within four with a layup, but another Rice triple pushed the margin to 90-83 with 1:22 remaining. A Jefferson Monegro basket got Western Michigan to within five with just over a minute to go, but the Owls hit six three throws in the final minute to close the door on WMU.
 
Coming off of a career-high 36 points on Friday night, Norman poured in 30 on Saturday, going 10-of-17 from the field and connecting on seven three-pointers. Monegro posted a career-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while Wright notched a career-high 18 points while making eight of his 10 field goal attempts.
 
Western Michigan owned the battle on the glass, as it outrebounded Rice 38-24 for the evening. Markeese Hastings paced the Broncos on the boards with a season-high 11. Wright also added eight rebounds for WMU.
 
After the Owls hit a three-pointer to begin the evening, Western Michigan tallied the next six points to open up a 6-3 edge. A 9-3 stretch helped the Broncos extend the margin to seven, 17-10, just past the halfway mark of the opening half.
 
A six-point burst got Rice briefly back within one, 19-18, but a 10-3 response enabled the Broncos to stretch their lead to 29-21, their largest lead of the first stanza, with six minutes left until halftime. WMU looked poised to take a comfortable cushion into the locker room, but the Owls scored seven points in the final 30 seconds of the period to send the game into the break all even at 41-41.  
 
In the opening two minutes of the second half, the Owls moved back ahead, 49-45. Western Michigan then rattled off a 13-2 run to go back on top, 58-51, at the 14:08 mark. During the run, Norman scored 11 straight WMU points.
 
With 9:28 on the clock, the Broncos took their largest lead of the evening, 68-59, on a Norman fast break layup. The Owls slowly chipped away at the WMU advantage, and finally tied the game at 76-76 with 4:31 remaining.
 
For the second straight night, both teams shot above 50 percent from the floor. Western Michigan connected on 34-of-60 (56.7 percent) from the field, while Rice made 33-of-62 (53.2 percent) of its field goal attempts. The Broncos added nine three-pointers on 22 attempts (40.9 percent) and 11 free throws on 14 tries (78.6 percent).
 
Western Michigan closes out its run of three games in three days at the Owl Invitational on Sunday afternoon as it faces Georgia Southern. Tip off between the Broncos and Eagles is set for 1 pm, and the game will be broadcast on the Bronco Media Network.
 
WMU returns to University Arena on Saturday, Nov. 26, to take on Cleveland State. To purchase tickets to any Western Michigan men's basketball home game this season, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.