KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Trailing by six at halftime, the Western Michigan men's basketball team outscored Eastern Michigan 49-26 after the intermission to earn a 79-62 comeback victory on Saturday afternoon at University Arena.
 
Jalen Griffith filled up the stats sheet for the Broncos (7-9, 1-3 MAC), netting a team-high 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. Jayden Brewer approached a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Carson Vis tied his career high with 11 points off of the bench. Max Burton nearly recorded a double-double as well, posting nine points and eight rebounds for the Brown and Gold.
 
Western Michigan grabbed the early advantage, and netted five straight points to boost its lead to 20-12 at the 12:34 mark of the first half. Eastern Michigan (8-9, 2-3) countered with the next 12 points to move ahead for the first time, 24-20, just past the halfway mark of the period. The Eagles stayed in front for the remainder of the half and took a 36-30 edge into the locker room.
 
With EMU still in front, 43-37, the Broncos tallied seven consecutive points to wrestle the lead away, 44-43. Western Michigan then broke a 49-49 deadlock with back-to-back three-pointers by Griffith and Vis with 10 minutes remaining.
 
Eastern Michigan answered, bringing the contest level at 56-56 at the 8:15 mark. The Brown and Gold responded with a 19-2 surge to break away from the Eagles and grab their largest lead of the afternoon, 75-58, with under two minutes remaining. During the run, WMU held the visitors without a field goal for nearly seven minutes.
 
Western Michigan shot 51.0 percent (26-of-51) for the afternoon, including 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from three-point range. In the second half alone, the Broncos were 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) from the floor and hit 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) from downtown. Eastern Michigan connected on 44.6 percent (25-of-56) of its field goal attempts, and was held to just 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from beyond the arc. WMU was plus-14 on the glass, outdueling the Eagles on the boards 39-25.
 
The Broncos continue their homestand on Tuesday evening as they welcome UMass to University Arena for a 7 pm tip. For tickets to any WMU men's basketball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.