KENT, Ohio – Trailing 63-61 with 4.1 seconds remaining, the Western Michigan men's basketball team had a chance to win the game or send it to overtime, but it was not to be, as the Kent State defense kept WMU off of the board to hang on for the two-point victory.
 
Javonte Brown tallied 14 points off of the bench to lead Western Michigan (8-15, 5-6 MAC) in scoring, while Owen Lobsinger and JaVaughn Hannah added 12 points apiece. Anthony Crump snagged a game-high 12 rebounds, a new season high, to help the Broncos win the rebounding battle, 34-26.
 
Offense was tough to come by on both sides in the first half. Trailing 9-8, the Broncos put together six consecutive points to grab a 14-9 edge at the 9:21 mark. The Golden Flashes (12-11, 5-6) answered with eight of the next 10 to move back in front, 17-16. There were four lead changes in the final six-plus minutes of the opening period, the last of which put Kent State up 27-25 at the break.
 
The second half proceeded in similar fashion, with points being tough to come by and neither team grabbing much breathing room. With Kent State leading 30-27, Lobsinger went on a personal 6-0 run to move the Brown and Gold back ahead, 33-30. The Golden Flashes responded with nine of the next 11 points to wrestle the lead back, 39-35, with 14:18 to play.
 
Western Michigan got back even at 40-40 on a tough basket in the paint by Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro. After trading points for the next few minutes, the Broncos drew level again at 46-46 with just under nine minutes to go.
 
Kent State then tallied the next nine points to open up a 55-46 advantage, the largest for either team in the contest. The Broncos countered with a seven-point run to shrink the gap back to two, 55-53, at the 3:42 mark. KSU built its cushion back to six, 61-55, but three-pointers by Hannah and De La Cruz Monegro brought WMU to within two again, 63-61, in the final minute. After getting a stop on the defensive end, Western Michigan had the last possession of the night, but was unable to convert.
 
Following a tough first half, the Broncos shot 52.2 percent (12-of-23) in the second half to hit the 44.0 percent (22-of-50) mark for the evening. Western Michigan converted 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) of its free throw attempts. The WMU defense limited Kent State to 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from the field and 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from beyond the arc.
 
Western Michigan continues its three-game road trip on Saturday as it takes on Southern Miss in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. The Broncos and Golden Eagles are slated for a 2 pm tip on ESPN+.