With his 19 points, Norman reached double-figures for the eighth consecutive game. Smith’s 14 points gave him three double-digit scoring efforts in his last four games, while his 10 rebounds were a season high. The senior’s double-double was his first at WMU and third of his collegiate career.
After Aquinas netted the first bucket of the evening, Western Michigan (4-6) answered with eight straight, with five of the points coming from Markeese Hastings. With 8:09 remaining in the opening half, a Norman layup gave the Broncos’ their largest lead of the period, 22-12.
An 11-2 run brought the Saints to within one, 24-23, at the 4:27 mark. A pair of free throws apiece from Gus Etchison and Danny Kolp helped WMU briefly build the margin back to seven, 32-25, but Aquinas tallied seven of the final nine points of the half to cut the Broncos’ advantage to 34-32 at the break.
Western Michigan held Aquinas without a field goal for more than four minutes to start the second half, as the hosts stretched the lead back out to 42-35. The Saints whittled the deficit back to three, 42-39, but a 7-0 WMU run, capped by a Norman three, extended the margin into double-digits again at 49-39 with 13:02 to play.
Near the midway point of the second half, a six-point spurt stretched WMU’s advantage out to 55-42. The Saints got to within seven, 61-54, with 3:36 remaining, but Norman went 6-for-6 from the line the rest of the way to seal the victory for the Broncos.
The Broncos connected on 46.0 percent (23-of-50) from the floor, while holding Aquinas to 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the field, and 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from beyond the arc. Western Michigan shot a season-high 23 free throws for the evening, and canned a season-best 19 of them. Norman was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.
WMU was plus-four in the turnover battle, forcing the Saints into 16 miscues. The Broncos also owned a 38-26 advantage in points in the paint.
Western Michigan concludes its non-conference slate with a trip to Notre Dame on Monday, Dec. 20, at 8 pm. ET