The backcourt of Flowers and White combined . . .
From the free-throw line, Flowers was a perfect 10-for-10, marking the 26th Bronco in school history to register a perfect free-throw percentage (min. 10 attempts). It was Flowers' 30th career game scoring in double figures and 13th scoring over 20.
Freshman B. Artis White recorded a stellar debut in the Brown & Gold, posting 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field with four three-pointer's. White was also 6-of-8 from the free-throw line while registering three rebounds.
In his first career start, freshman Titus Wright registered five points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Wright also totaled one assist, one steal while going 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. The freshman duo of White and Wright became the first pair of freshman under head coach Steve Hawkins to start in the regular season opener.
Returning to action after missing last season due to injury, redshirt Brandon Johnson off the bench led WMU with eight rebounds to go along with seven points in 24 minutes of play. Also returning to the court from injury was redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens who poured in two points and six rebounds against McNeese State.
As a team, the Broncos recorded just six turnovers on the night and scored 19 points off of 14 McNeese State turnovers. From the field WMU shot 36.2 percent and knocked down 11 three-pointer while going 22-of-28 from the charity stripe.
For the fourth straight season Western Michigan will start 1-0 while increasing its streak to nine straight home opener victories. WMU's next contest will be on the road as the Broncos square off with Milwaukee on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m.
In the first half, the two teams battled back and forth as neither team led by more than two through the first five minutes of the game. WMU held on to an 18-12 lead midway through the first half as the Bronco defense held McNeese State scoreless for nearly five minutes.
Late in the period, the Bronco offense found its way and embarked on a 12-2 run in just under two minutes to take a 37-21 lead with 3:14 remaining in the half. The run was highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard Jared Printy. Both teams caught fire to end the half as McNeese State made their final four field goals while WMU made five of their last seven to take a 42-31 lead in to halftime.
Western Michigan raced out of the gate to begin the second half and, after a 6-0 run highlighted by a transition three-pointer from White, WMU held a 52-34 lead with 15:51 left to play. However, McNeese State rallied its way back midway through the second and embarked on a staggering 18-2 run, connecting on seven straight field goals to cut WMU's lead down to 59-55 with 8:20 remaining.
The Cowboys continued their hot shooting and made four straight field goals late in the second half to cut WMU's lead down to 71-65 with 1:45 to play. After a missed shot from the Broncos, McNeese State had a chance to cut the deficit down to four before Brandon Johnson blocked a lay-up attempt off the glass to derail any hopes of a comeback.
Western Michigan secured the game at the free-throw line despite going scoreless from the field the final 2:55 of play for the 75-65 victory.