MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Trailing by nine with just under two minutes to play, the Western Michigan men's basketball team nearly came all the way back, but fell one point shy, 61-60, in the debut of new head coach Dwayne Stephens on Monday night at Minnesota.
 
Seth Hubbard pulled WMU (0-1) to within seven, 59-52, on a short jumper with 1:34 to play. The Golden Gophers (1-0) split a pair of free throws, and Lamar Norman Jr. drove down and laid one in to make it 60-54. Another free throw briefly made the margin seven again, but Markeese Hastings hit a triple to bring Western Michigan to within 61-57 with eight ticks remaining. The Golden Gophers missed a pair at the charity stripe on their next possession, and Norman raced down and hit another three-pointer, but it came as the final horn sounded, leaving the Broncos one point short of a come-from-behind victory.
 
Norman paced Western Michigan with 15 points, while Hubbard came off of the bench to net 13 points in his first collegiate game. Hastings added seven points and collected a game-high 10 rebounds for the Broncos.
 
Minnesota netted the first seven points of the evening, before a pair of Tafari Simms free throws got Western Michigan its first points of the new season. The Golden Gophers pushed the edge to eight, 12-4, but a pair of Hubbard three-pointers helped key an 8-2 run which got the Broncos within two, 14-12, with 11 minutes to play in the first half.  
 
Norman added his first two three-pointers of the season to even the score, 18-18, with 6:45 to go in the opening stanza. WMU tied the score a couple more times late in the first half, but Minnesota ended the period on a 10-2 run to take a 35-26 advantage into the halftime locker room.
 
The Golden Gophers tallied the first four points after the break to push the margin into double-digits, 39-26. A 9-1 stretch helped the Broncos trim the deficit down to five, 42-37, at the 12:20 mark. During the run, WMU held Minnesota without a field goal for more than five-and-a-half minutes.
 
From there, the margin stayed between five and nine points until a Minnesota three-pointer pushed the hosts' lead back into double-figures, 53-43, with 8:14 to play. Western Michigan fought back, and trimmed the margin to six, 56-50, when Hubbard knocked down his third triple of the evening at the 3:40 mark. The Broncos held Minnesota to just one made field goal over the final eight minutes of the contest.
 
Western Michigan was plus-six in turnover margin, and turned 16 Minnesota miscues into an 18-10 advantage in points scored off of turnovers. The Golden Gophers held a 42-40 edge in rebounding, with WMU outdueling Minnesota 17-14 on the offensive glass. The Bronco bench outscored the Minnesota bench 26-10 for the evening.
 
WMU returns to Kalamazoo on Thursday, Nov. 10, for its home opener against Goshen College. Tip is set for 7 pm at University Arena. Thursday's contest will also 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-WMUTIX.