TOLEDO, Ohio – The Western Michigan men's basketball team dropped an 84-79 decision on Monday night at Toledo in its first MAC road game of the season.
 
In his Western Michigan debut, Justice Williams paced the Broncos (6-8, 0-2 MAC) with 20 points. Joining Williams in double-figures were EJ Ryans (12), Trey Lewis (11) and Max Burton (10). Jayden Brewer led the Brown and Gold on the glass with 11 rebounds.
 
Western Michigan tallied the first bucket of the night, but Toledo (7-6, 1-0) countered with 14 straight points to grab the early advantage. The Brown and Gold answered with 10 in a row to close the gap to 14-12. The Rockets notched the next five to bump their edge back to seven, 19-12, but WMU then ripped off a 15-2 run go on top, 27-21. With the margin at 34-32, the Broncos tallied the final seven points of the period, with Lewis tipping one in just before the horn sounded to make it a 41-32 cushion at halftime.
 
WMU quickly extended the margin into double-digits, as Jalen Griffith nailed a three-pointer on the first possession of the second half to make it 44-32. The Broncos continued to add to their advantage over the next few minutes, and pushed it to 16, 57-41, on a Williams layup at the 15:17 mark.
 
Moments later, Toledo began to claw its way back into it. With the margin at 59-44, the Rockets used a 17-5 run to close the gap to 64-61 with just under nine minutes to play. At 68-63, UT tallied seven consecutive points to take its first lead of the second half, 70-68.
 
Western Michigan moved back in front, 71-70, on a Lewis three-pointer, and then got a four-point burst from Brewer to make it 75-72 with just over three minutes to go. After Toledo wrestled the lead back, 76-75, Williams nailed a jumper to put the Broncos on top, 77-76, heading into the final minute of the contest. The Rockets answered with a bucket of their own and then held on defense before closing out the game at the free throw line.
 
The Broncos went 30-of-68 (44.1 percent) from the field for the evening, while Toledo connected on 28-of-64 (43.8 percent) of its field goal attempts. WMU enjoyed a 43-41 rebounding edge, which included a season-high tying 18 offensive boards.

Next up for Western Michigan is a trip down to Oxford, Ohio, to face Miami on Tuesday, Jan. 6. Tip is slated for 7 pm on ESPN+.