The Broncos held a 66-61 lead with 2:25 left after freshman William Boyer-Richard knocked down a three-pointer from the right side of the key with two seconds left on the shot clock.
WMU still held a lead -- 66-65 -- with 10 seconds remaining before a tip-in by Milwaukee’s Vance Johnson with six seconds left gave the Panthers a one-point advantage. On the ensuing possession after the ball went out of bounds, junior Jared Printy got off a three-pointer from the corner that missed off the front of the rim, and Milwaukee raised its record to 5-8.
Heading into the holiday break, Western Michigan has an overall record of 5-7. It returns home for its final non-conference game of the season on Sunday, Dec. 30 versus UC Riverside. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. inside University Arena.
Western Michigan had five players score in double figures for the first time since Jan.27 of last season. Sophomore Michael Flowers led the way with 13 points. He was 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from long distance to go along with four rebounds and three assists. It’s the fifth game in a row the Southfield, Mich., native has scored in double figures.
Behind Flowers was senior Seth Dugan with 12 points to go along with four rebounds. Fellow senior Josh Davis notched his ninth game of the season in double figures with 10 points and tied for the team lead with six rebounds.
For the third time in the last four games, junior Jared Printy reached double figures with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the three-point line. Printy has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season and extends his streak to 13 straight regular season games with a three.
Off the bench, freshman William Boyer-Richard provided an offensive spark for the Broncos with 11 points and shot 75 percent (3-of-4) from the field. Boyer-Richard in 16 minutes had one rebound and two assists.
As a team the Broncos shot 41.8 percent from the field and had 10 three-pointers, marking the fourth time this season the Brown & Gold have recorded double digit three’s. WMU outrebounded Milwaukee, 32-30 and held an 8-4 advantage on the offensive glass. The Broncos shot a season-high 83.3 percent from the free throw line.
It was a low scoring affair in the first half as WMU made just 11 field goals, compared to Milwaukee’s eight. Midway through the first half, Milwaukee led 18-13 before the Broncos went on a 5-0 run to tie the game with seven minutes remaining.
The game was tied at 18-18 for nearly four minutes before WMU went on a 7-3 run with five points coming from Flowers to take a 25-21 at the 3:09 mark. To end the half, the Broncos made their final four field goals to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room.
To begin the second half, Western Michigan made four of its first five shots to hold a 44-40 advantage with 14:20 remaining. The two teams then traded baskets before a Flowers three-pointer propelled WMU back to a three-point lead just under the 10-minute mark.
Down the stretch, WMU jumped out to a four-point lead thanks to Flowers scoring five straight points to give the Broncos a slim 63-59 advantage. The Brown & Gold’s lead was cut down to two with two minutes remaining before Boyer-Richard knocked down a deep three with two seconds left on the shot clock to give WMU a 66-61 lead.
Milwaukee responded with four straight points to cut into the Bronco lead with just under a minute to play. With 10 seconds left and Milwaukee trailing by one, the Panthers Darius Roy had his shot blocked by Dugan, but was corralled by Vance Johnson, who tipped the ball back in to give Milwaukee a one-point lead.
After the ball was knocked out of bounds on the ensuing Bronco possession, Jared Printy received the inbound pass and shot a corner three with two seconds left. It bounced off the front of the rim and secured the 67-66 Milwaukee victory.
The Panthers had three players score in double figures, led by Darius Roy with 18 points.