KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team got a career-high 34 points from Chansey Willis Jr. and double-doubles from JaVaughn Hannah and Donovan Williams as it grabbed a critical 82-73 win over Ohio on Tuesday evening at University Arena.   
 
Willis' career-high 34 points came on 12-of-19 shooting and included four three-pointers. The junior also equaled his career high in assists with eight. It was the highest scoring game by a Bronco since Lamar Norman Jr. netted 36 in a win at Houston Christian on Nov. 18, 2022.
 
Western Michigan (10-18, 7-8 MAC) enjoyed a plus-10 margin in rebounding (42-32) thanks in large part to Williams and Hannah. Williams secured his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Hannah had 14 points and a career-high 10 boards for the first double-double of his career.
 
Willis scored nine of Western Michigan's first 11 points as it got out to an 11-4 start. Ohio (15-13, 9-6) briefly closed the gap to 11-9, but the Broncos used a 10-2 run to open up a 21-11 lead at the 12:05 mark of the first half.
 
The Bobcats engineered a 13-2 response to grab a 24-23 edge. The next five points went to the Broncos to help the hosts go back on top, 28-24. WMU took a 36-33 advantage into the locker room.
 
Ohio netted the first five points after halftime to climb back in front, 38-36. At 45-40, Western Michigan used an 8-2 spurt to wrestle the lead back, 48-47. The Bobcats tallied six straight points to take a 57-53 edge with 12 minutes remaining.
 
Over the next five minutes, the Broncos put together a 17-7 run to take a 70-64 lead. Ohio whittled the margin down to two, 70-68, but Western Michigan responded with seven consecutive points to push the margin to nine, 77-68. From there, WMU closed out the contest at the free throw line.
 
The Brown and Gold shot 50.8 percent (30-of-59) for the evening, while Ohio connected on 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from the floor.
 
Western Michigan hits the road on Saturday afternoon as it travels to DeKalb, Ill., to take on NIU. Tip between the Broncos and Huskies is scheduled for 4:30 pm on ESPN+.