DAYTON, Ohio – The Western Michigan men's basketball team fell victim to an 18-4 run in the middle portion of the second half and could not recover in a 77-69 loss at Dayton on Tuesday night.
 
Owen Lobsinger netted a season-high 24 points to lead the way for Western Michigan (3-5). Markhi Strickland was also in double-figures for WMU, as he went 9-of-12 from the field to tally 19 points. Max Burton tallied a team-high six rebounds, and EJ Ryans handed out a team-leading five assists.
 
Western Michigan made four of its first five shots to grab a 9-7 edge in the opening moments. With the contest even at 19-19, Dayton (7-2) hit back-to-back three-pointers to take its largest lead of the period, 25-19. Lobsinger then caught fire, scoring WMU's final 16 points of the half to help the visitors take a 35-32 advantage into the locker room.  
 
After the Flyers scored the first basket out of the break, Western Michigan answered with the next nine points to extend its lead to 44-34. Dayton came back with six in a row to ignite a 13-2 run which put the hosts back on top, 47-46.
 
Strickland briefly gave WMU the lead again at 48-47, but the Flyers countered with an 11-2 stretch to move back ahead, 58-50. A pair of Lobsinger free throws and a Marquese Josephs bucket whittled it back down to a 58-54 margin with seven minutes remaining. Dayton responded with eight of the next 10 to get its cushion to 10, 66-56, and kept Western Michigan at bay the rest of the way.
 
The Broncos made 29-of-54 (53.7 percent) from the field for the evening, while Dayton went 25-of-48 (52.1 percent) from the floor.  
 
Western Michigan continues its stretch of four consecutive road games next Friday, Dec. 13, when it visits St. Thomas. Tip is set for 9 pm.