SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Western Michigan men's basketball team trailed by 13 in the early stages of the second half and closed the gap all the way down to four, before ultimately falling 77-61 at Texas State on Saturday in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.   
 
Trey Lewis led the charge for Western Michigan (8-15) with a career-high 19 points. Jayden Brewer netted 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Broncos, while Carson Vis chipped in 10 points.
 
An 8-2 spurt, capped by a Justice Williams three-pointer, helped the Broncos grab a 12-7 edge at the 13:31 mark of the first half. Texas State (15-11) answered with a 13-3 stretch to move ahead, 20-15. EJ Ryans nailed a triple and Brewer followed with a layup to bring WMU back even at 20-20. The Bobcats then proceeded to close the half with a 16-5 surge to take a 36-25 advantage into the locker room.  
 
Texas State increased its cushion to 40-27 in the first minute of the second half. At 45-34, Western Michigan notched six straight points, with Lewis and Vis each converting old-fashioned, three-point plays to trim the deficit to 45-40.
 
The hosts stretched their lead back out to 11, 54-43, but the Broncos fought right back, with a five-point burst from Brewer closing the gap to 61-57 with five minutes remaining. Four was as close as the Brown and Gold could get, as the Bobcats closed the contest with a 16-4 run.
 
The Broncos went 24-of-59 (40.7 percent) from the field in the contest, while Texas State hit 30-of-56 (53.6 percent) from the floor.
 
Western Michigan returns to University Arena on Wednesday evening for a rematch against Toledo at 7 pm. For tickets to any WMU men's basketball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.