Milwaukee made six of its final . . .
WMU improves its overall record to 7-5 and will wrap-up non-conference play on Saturday, Dec. 30 at home against Chicago State. The Broncos begin Mid-American Conference play on Tuesday, Jan. 2 inside University Arena versus Akron.
Wilder led the Broncos with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor along with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. The Montgomery, Ill., native scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the second half and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
Sophomore Brandon Johnson had 14 points for the Brown and Gold and was near automatic from the free-throw line, going 6-of-7. Johnson also hauled in six rebounds along with one assist and one block in 32 minutes played.
Once again, junior Josh Davis led WMU in the rebounding department with seven rebounds to go along with seven points in 24 minutes played. As a team, WMU outrebounded UWM, 30-28.
Western Michigan tallied 15 points off the bench, led by sophomore Reggie Jones with nine. He crashed the boards, as well, collecting five rebounds on the night.
From the field, WMU shot 48.1 percent and 50 percent from the three-point line. Milwaukee committed 11 turnovers to WMU’s nine as the Broncos scored 19 points off of Panther turnovers.
It was all Broncos in the first half as WMU led the entire way and held a 29-25 lead after the first 20 minutes of play. WMU began the game on a 6-0 run and ultimately jumped out to an 8-3 lead after four points and four rebounds from Davis.
After sophomore Jared Printy knocked down a three-pointer from the right side, the Broncos extended their lead to double digits with eight minutes left in the half. Down the stretch of the first half, WMU went just 1-of-7 from the field and led by four at the break.
Milwaukee took its first lead of the game in the second half after embarking on a 13-5 run to grab a two-point lead with 12 minutes remaining. Midway through the second half, the Bronco offense came to life, going on an 18-3 run to regain a double digit lead with five minutes remaining.
Despite the double digit lead, Milwaukee was able to rally back, making six of their final eight field goals to cut the WMU lead to three with six seconds left. Wilder’s block at the end secured WMU’s third straight road victory. The Broncos are now 3-1 away from Kalamazoo this season.
(Courtesy of WMU Athletics)