Leading by three with 50 seconds remaining in overtime, Oakland blocked a shot that went out of bounds with two seconds left on the shot clock. On the ensuing inbound, freshman William Boyer-Richard found Printy in the corner who knocked down his only three of the night to give the Broncos a six-point lead.
Printy’s three-pointer proved to be the dagger as Oakland missed their final five field goals to seal the Broncos’ victory. The triple highlighted an 8-0 run to end the game for WMU with lay-ups by Boyer-Richard and senior Josh Davis.
As a team, the Broncos had three players with double-doubles against the Golden Grizzlies and shot 45.2 percent from the floor. At the free-throw line, WMU went 25-of-32 including a staggering 78.6 percent in the second half. The Brown & Gold dominated the glass, outrebounding Oakland, 49-37.
Back near his hometown Davis recorded his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. Davis was dominant in the second half scoring 16 of his 19 points and collecting his 500th career point midway through the second.
Also registering his second double-double of the season was senior Seth Dugan with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Dugan played a staggering 42 minutes and was 8-of-14 from the floor. The Otsego, Mich., native also had two blocks and one steal.
Sophomore Kawanise Wilkins had his best game in a Bronco uniform this season, registering 20 points with six rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes played. Wilkins shot 50 percent from the floor and was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. From the four-minute mark of the first half to the 17-minute mark of the second, Wilkins scored 10 straight points for the Broncos.
Collecting his first double-double of the season was sophomore Michael Flowers with a career-high 14 points and 12 rebounds. The 12 rebounds are a career-high for Flowers who also had five assists, two blocks and two steals.
With the victory WMU moves to 2-1 on the season, marking the first time Western has been 2-1 since 2014. The Broncos return home on Saturday for a match-up against Aquinas College. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. inside University Arena.
It was a comeback effort for the Broncos, who trailed by as many as 13 early in the second half. With 15 minutes left, the Brown & Gold went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead down to 42-39. Oakland then made a run of its own, making five straight field goals to extend its lead to 56-47 midway through the second.
The Bronco offense once again got hot, embarking on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 60-60 with just under six minutes left. It was Flowers who lit the spark for the offensive scoring five points, including a one-and-one to tie the game.
Western Michigan led by four with 30 seconds as Oakland went to the free-throw line after being fouled on a three-point shot. Oakland made 2-of-3 from the stripe, but WMU couldn’t grasp the rebound and Oakland got the ball back with 20 seconds to play.
On the ensuing inbound, Oakland’s Karmari Newman connected on a corner three to tie the game at 73-73. Josh Davis got an open look at the other end as the time expired, but the shot bounced off the back off the rim.
In the first half, WMU shot just 30.8 percent from the field and was 2-of-10 from three. The Broncos trailed 36-27 heading into the locker room. Oakland, on the other hand, was lethal from long distance over the first 20 minutes of the game, knocking down seven three’s.
(Courtesy of WMU Athletics)