KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan clawed back from a 21-point deficit to defeat the visiting Ohio Bobcats Tuesday evening at University Arena.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” WMU head coach Steve Hawkins said of his team. “It’s not an easy thing to do when you when you have been losing. We have been battling hard and it takes so much energy to come back the next day when you haven’t been getting the wins.”
The Broncos were . . .
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” WMU head coach Steve Hawkins said of his team. “It’s not an easy thing to do when you when you have been losing. We have been battling hard and it takes so much energy to come back the next day when you haven’t been getting the wins.”
The Broncos were . . .
. . . coming off of four tough losses, two on the road by six points, entering Tuesday’s contest. WMU had also taken one on the chin against Ohio earlier this season, falling to the Bobcats in the conference opener in Athens on Jan. 3, 89-58. Ohio made 16 three’s in that contest and it looked to be more of the same Tuesday in Kalamazoo.
Ohio pumped in six early 3-pointers and the Bobcats held a big 44-23 lead at the 3:02 mark in the first half. The Broncos wouldn’t be deterred, however, and went on a ferocious 15-0 run over the remaining minutes of the half. Thomas Wilder took a baseline inbounds pass and raced down the floor to hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put WMU down 44-38 at halftime.
“I thought Thomas’ shot at the end of the half was great for us,” Hawkins said. “It served us well mentality in the second half. Even when they took the lead back up in the second half we knew in the back of our minds, we have already done this.”
Wilder also made the first basket out of the break to cut the deficit to four, but Ohio knocked down three more triples over the next five minutes to work its lead back up to 13 with 15:36 left.
The Bobcats still held a 10-point lead with 4:58 remaining before WMU made its final push, scoring 10 straight over the next three minutes to even the score at 81-81. Bryce Moore and Wilder nailed back-to-back three’s, freshman Jarrin Randall fired in a jumper at the elbow and Wilder knocked down a pair of free throws.
The two sides traded points over the next minute, with Wilder and Moore again coming up with big buckets, to put the score at 85-85 with 1:06 remaining.
WMU pulled ahead for good with 36 seconds left when Wilder made the second of two free throws. Seth Dugan tied up a massive defensive rebound and Wilder sank two more free throws to give WMU a three-point advantage.
Ohio’s Jason Carter had a look at a game-tying three with 11 seconds remaining that didn’t go. Tucker Haymond grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line for two free throws, which he made good on to polish off the remarkable WMU comeback.
Wilder led all scorers with 29 points, scoring 22 in the second half. He shot 8-for-15 from the field in the game with three 3-pointers and went 10-for-15 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Haymond had 20 points and six rebounds. Drake LaMont recorded 11 points and five rebounds in the post. Randall played a career-high 18 minutes and was on the floor for the final 12:38 over the game.
The Broncos shot 60 percent in the second half and 49.1 percent for the game. WMU was 8-for-24 from behind the arc and 26-for-35 from the charity stripe.
Ohio shot 51.8 percent from the floor and was 11-for-23 from deep. The Bobcats made 16 of 21 free throw attempts. Carter led four Bobcats in double figures scoring with 21 points. Joining him in double figures were Jaaron Simmons (18), Kenny Kaminski (17) and Jordan Dartis (11).
WMU, now 7-2 at home this season moved to 7-14 overall and 3-6 in the Mid-American Conference. Ohio slides to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in the MAC.
“We’ve got to take this out on the road,” Hawkins said referring to the win. “There is a lot of basketball to be played. We are just at the half way mark of the conference season.”
Western Michigan heads to Central Michigan for its next contest. Originally slated for Saturday, Feb. 4 at 4:30 p.m., the game in Mount Pleasant between the West Division rivals has been moved to Friday, Feb. 3 with a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.
Ohio will try to bounce back Saturday when it hosts MAC East leader Akron (noon, ET).
Ohio pumped in six early 3-pointers and the Bobcats held a big 44-23 lead at the 3:02 mark in the first half. The Broncos wouldn’t be deterred, however, and went on a ferocious 15-0 run over the remaining minutes of the half. Thomas Wilder took a baseline inbounds pass and raced down the floor to hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put WMU down 44-38 at halftime.
“I thought Thomas’ shot at the end of the half was great for us,” Hawkins said. “It served us well mentality in the second half. Even when they took the lead back up in the second half we knew in the back of our minds, we have already done this.”
Wilder also made the first basket out of the break to cut the deficit to four, but Ohio knocked down three more triples over the next five minutes to work its lead back up to 13 with 15:36 left.
The Bobcats still held a 10-point lead with 4:58 remaining before WMU made its final push, scoring 10 straight over the next three minutes to even the score at 81-81. Bryce Moore and Wilder nailed back-to-back three’s, freshman Jarrin Randall fired in a jumper at the elbow and Wilder knocked down a pair of free throws.
The two sides traded points over the next minute, with Wilder and Moore again coming up with big buckets, to put the score at 85-85 with 1:06 remaining.
WMU pulled ahead for good with 36 seconds left when Wilder made the second of two free throws. Seth Dugan tied up a massive defensive rebound and Wilder sank two more free throws to give WMU a three-point advantage.
Ohio’s Jason Carter had a look at a game-tying three with 11 seconds remaining that didn’t go. Tucker Haymond grabbed the rebound and was fouled, sending him to the line for two free throws, which he made good on to polish off the remarkable WMU comeback.
Wilder led all scorers with 29 points, scoring 22 in the second half. He shot 8-for-15 from the field in the game with three 3-pointers and went 10-for-15 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Haymond had 20 points and six rebounds. Drake LaMont recorded 11 points and five rebounds in the post. Randall played a career-high 18 minutes and was on the floor for the final 12:38 over the game.
The Broncos shot 60 percent in the second half and 49.1 percent for the game. WMU was 8-for-24 from behind the arc and 26-for-35 from the charity stripe.
Ohio shot 51.8 percent from the floor and was 11-for-23 from deep. The Bobcats made 16 of 21 free throw attempts. Carter led four Bobcats in double figures scoring with 21 points. Joining him in double figures were Jaaron Simmons (18), Kenny Kaminski (17) and Jordan Dartis (11).
WMU, now 7-2 at home this season moved to 7-14 overall and 3-6 in the Mid-American Conference. Ohio slides to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in the MAC.
“We’ve got to take this out on the road,” Hawkins said referring to the win. “There is a lot of basketball to be played. We are just at the half way mark of the conference season.”
Western Michigan heads to Central Michigan for its next contest. Originally slated for Saturday, Feb. 4 at 4:30 p.m., the game in Mount Pleasant between the West Division rivals has been moved to Friday, Feb. 3 with a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.
Ohio will try to bounce back Saturday when it hosts MAC East leader Akron (noon, ET).
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