KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, the Western Michigan men's basketball team got 26 points from Jayden Brewer and 20 from Brady Swartz to come all the way back and knock off Purdue Fort Wayne, 83-71, on Wednesday night at University Arena.    
 
Brewer collected his second double-double of the young season for the Broncos (2-2), notching a career-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting and securing 12 rebounds. Swartz got hot from the floor as well to net his career-high 20 points, making 7-of-11 from the field, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.
 
A pair of early runs helped Purdue Fort Wayne (1-3) seize a 17-8 lead in the early going. The visitors' lead climbed as high as 13, 37-24, with just under three minutes to play in the opening period. Swartz nailed a three-pointer to ignite an 8-0 WMU run to close the half, trimming the deficit to 37-32 at the break.
 
With the margin at 42-36, Western Michigan ripped off 13 consecutive points to go ahead, 49-42, for the first time since 8-7. The Mastodons closed the gap to four at 51-47, before eight straight extended WMU's advantage to 59-47. As the game moved into the final five minutes, the Broncos put together one final eight-point burst to reach their largest lead of the night, 74-58.
 
WMU connected on 32-of-73 (43.8 percent) from the field, while holding Purdue Fort Wayne to 25-of-72 (34.7 percent) from the floor and 9-of-38 (23.7 percent) from three-point range. Western Michigan dominated on the glass, grabbing a season-high 53 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, for a plus-15 rebounding margin. The Brown and Gold also held a 46-32 advantage in points in the paint and were plus-28 in bench points (35-7).
 
The Broncos hit the road for their next two games, starting on Sunday afternoon at South Dakota. Tip against the Coyotes is slated for 2 pm.