KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team fell in an early hole that it could never quite dig out of, as it fell, 62-55, to Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon at University Arena.
 
Owen Lobsinger registered his second career double-double for Western Michigan (8-12, 5-3 MAC), as he notched 10 points and grabbed a new career-high 12 rebounds. Seth Hubbard led the Broncos in scoring for the 11th time this season as he netted 16 points.
 
Titus Wright came up just shy of a double-double of his own, as he posted eight points and nine rebounds. Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro filled up the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds and nine assists, one shy of his career high.
 
The Broncos struggled mightily from the field in the first half, making just 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Central Michigan (11-9, 6-2) took advantage, as the visitors ran out to a 19-3 lead. Western Michigan clawed its way back to within 10 after a JaVaughn Hannah triple at the 5:12 mark of the period, but the Chippewas took a 29-16 cushion into the halftime locker room.
 
WMU opened the second half with a pair of quick buckets by Wright, trimming the deficit to 29-20 and forcing the visitors to take a timeout. Trailing 34-22, the Broncos rattled off seven straight points, with a Lobsinger three-pointer cutting the margin to 34-29 with 15:56 on the clock. Central Michigan answered with a 9-2 run to push its advantage back to 12, 45-33, with nine minutes remaining.
 
After four straight Western Michigan points, the Chippewas used a 10-2 run to up their advantage to 16, 55-39, with 4:45 to play. The Broncos put together an 11-2 surge with three triples in the final two minutes to get as close as six, 59-53, but CMU halted the comeback there and put the game away at the free throw line.
 
For the afternoon, the Broncos shot 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the floor, while Central Michigan made 42.1 percent (24-of-57) of its field goal attempts. WMU was plus-six (40-34) on the glass, including a 15-8 edge in offensive rebounding.
 
Western Michigan hits the road on Tuesday evening for its lone matchup of the regular season against Toledo. The Broncos and Rockets are slated for a 7 pm tip on ESPN+.