• Blog
  • About Us
  • Links
  MAC Reporter Online

Broncos capitalize on Pacific turnovers

12/15/2014

 
Picture
STOCKTON, Calif. – David Brown scored 13 of his 16 points down the stretch in the second half, Connar Tava netted 19, and the Western Michigan Broncos muscled out an 80-72 road win over the Pacific Tigers on Sunday. The win snapped a three-game win streak for the Tigers and improved the Broncos’ record to 6-3 on the season. 

Brown was 3-of-5 from three-point range in the second half to help hold off the Tigers late in the period. His three-pointer from the right wing made it a nine-point game with 6:35 remaining, putting the Broncos ahead 66-57. The sixth-year senior later quelled another Tiger rally with a triple at the 2:25 mark to make it 73-68. Brown was good for one more dagger, draining one from the corner with 1:40 remaining to give WMU a 76-70 advantage.

With a lead firmly in hand, the Broncos broke Pacific’s press and put the ball in the hands of Austin Richie. One of the team’s best clutch free throw shooters, Richie went 4-of-4 at the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds to seal the 80-72 win over the Tigers.


(CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE . . . )
Brown finished with 16 total points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Richie had 14 points, three rebounds and two assists. Connar Tava was dominant in the post, leading all Broncos with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and also contributed five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Kellen McCormick and Thomas Wilder provided the spark off the bench, contributing nine and eight points, respectively.

The Broncos had an excellent shooting night against the Tigers, going 28-of-50 from the field for a 56.0 field goal percentage. The majority of those easy points came as a result of forcing turnovers; WMU pressured Pacific into 20 turnovers and turned them into 33 points, compared to just 12 points off turnovers for the Tigers. The Broncos had 21 assists on their 28 made baskets, marking the fourth-highest single-game assist total in program history.

A key point of the game came late in the second half after the Tigers pulled to within four points thanks to a three-pointer by Dulani Robinson at the 8:57 mark. Tava hit a running hook shot with his right hand to up the lead to 58-52, but Robinson struck again with a three-pointer to make it 60-57 with 7:23 remaining. Richie buried a trey from the deep left corner on the next possession to make it 63-57, and Brown followed it up with another on the fast break to give his team a nine-point edge.

Pacific tied it with a 9-0 run of its own, capping the rally with a pair of free throw makes by TJ Wallace to knot it up at 66. Tava drew a foul from Lampkin on a lay-up attempt and made both tosses to re-take the lead. The advantage stayed at two points with 3:06 to go in the half.

It seemed as if the Tigers were going to re-take the lead when Wallace pulled down a rebound on an errant three-pointer by the Broncos, but the tables turned thanks to a defensive play by Brown. He rushed to a spot in the paint and drew a charge from Wallace to force a Pacific turnover with 2:44 to play. Just 19 seconds later, Brown drilled a three-pointer to make it 73-68, and the result was decided.

WMU trailed in the game for all of 43 seconds, with David Taylor completing an old-fashioned three-point play on the Tigers’ first possession to make it 3-1. Brown made his first triple of the night on the next possession to make it 4-3 at the 18:51 mark of the first half, and Tava capped an 8-3 run for the Broncos with a jumper off the glass at the 16:36 mark.

Wilder contributed all eight of his points in the first half, giving the Broncos their second-largest lead of the period with 12:43 to play with a spinning jumper in the paint to make it 16-9. AJ Avery produced the largest lead of the period for WMU with 6:36 to go in the half, connecting on a baseline 15-foot jumper to make it 27-19.

(Courtesy of WMU Athletics/MRO Edit)


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    MAC Football 

    MAC FOOTBALL 
    2024
    REGULAR SEASON
    FINAL STANDINGS
    CLICK HERE

    Picture
    MAC Basketball 
    MAC BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

    MAC BASKETBALL
    STATISTICS

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Basketball
    Football
    Other

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly