KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Trailing 64-63 in the final seconds, Western Michigan had a chance to win it at the horn, but the final shot rimmed out, and the Broncos suffered a heartbreaking one-point defeat to Ball State on Senior Night at University Arena on Friday evening.
Western Michigan ends its season 8-23 overall and 4-16 in the MAC, while Ball State concludes the regular season with a 14-16 record and 9-10 mark in league play.
Prior to the game, WMU honored its four seniors,
Danny Kolp,
Adrian Martin,
Mileek McMillan and
Mack Smith, who suited up for the final time as Broncos on Friday evening.
Smith paced Western Michigan in scoring, tying his season high with 16 points.
Markeese Hastings tallied 13 points and secured 12 rebounds to collect his fourth double-double of the campaign.
Lamar Norman Jr. added 10 points for the Broncos. Norman and
B. Artis White handed out a team-high four assists apiece.
The game was back-and-forth throughout, as it featured a total of eight ties and 18 lead changes. The first lead of more than three points by either team came at the 13:55 mark of the first half, after three-pointers by Smith and
Josiah Freeman put the Broncos ahead, 13-9. Ball State answered with eight in a row as part of a 13-2 run, which vaulted the visitors into a 22-15 advantage.
A Hastings dunk sparked a 12-2 WMU response, and a Martin triple put the Broncos back on top, 27-24, with just over four minutes remaining in the opening period. Ball State evened the score on its next possession, and the contest went into halftime tied at 34-34.
After halftime, the lead changed hands nine times before either was able to seize an advantage of more than two points. At the 11:55 mark, Hastings buried a pair of free throws to cap an 8-2 WMU spurt, which nudged the Broncos ahead, 49-45.
White made a layup with 8:44 remaining to increase Western Michigan's edge to 54-49. BSU answered with four straight points over the next minute, trimming the gap back to one, 54-53. Norman came down and hit a three-pointer at the other end to halt the run. A few minutes later, Norman then made a layup to push the WMU advantage back to five, 63-58, with 3:51 to play. However, the Cardinals closed out the game with the final six points to escape with the one-point victory.
Western Michigan shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field, while Ball State connected on 42.3 percent (22-of-52) from the floor. The Broncos forced BSU into 16 turnovers, and converted that into a 23-13 advantage in points scored off of turnovers. The 16 turnovers tied for the most forced by the WMU defense this season.
