KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team dropped the opener of a three-game homestand on Friday night, as it fell to SIUE, 79-60, in the first game of the Bronco Classic.  
 
Owen Lobsinger led Western Michigan (1-3) with a season-high 16 points, while JaVaughn Hannah and Seryee Lewis chipped in eight points apiece off of the bench. Donovan Williams paced the Brown and Gold in rebounding for the second consecutive game after securing seven boards.
 
SIUE (3-2) got off to a fast start, opening up a 15-4 margin in the contest's first five minutes. At 20-10, the Cougars rattled off eight consecutive points to boost their lead to 28-10, their largest cushion of the first half. A couple of six-point bursts helped the Broncos get as close as 11 a few times, including at 40-29, but the visitors hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 43-29 advantage into the locker room.
 
With the deficit at 13, 48-35, Western Michigan put together a 9-2 stretch, with Marquese Josephs attacking the rim and laying it in to shrink the margin to 50-44 with 13:32 to play. Around the midway point of the second half, SIUE used a 12-3 run to extend its lead back out to 15, 64-49. The visitors maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the evening.
 
Western Michigan went 16-of-54 (29.6 percent) for the evening, while SIUE made 30-for-61 (49.2 percent) from the field. The Broncos connected on 26-of-37 attempts (70.3 percent) from the foul line, both of which were season highs.
 
WMU continues its three-game homestand on Sunday afternoon as it takes on Canisius at noon in its second game of the Bronco Classic. For tickets to any Western Michigan men's basketball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.