Johnson led the . . .
With WMU trailing by one with 7:20 remaining, Johnson took over. He provided 17 of WMU’s final 20 points, including 15 straight to secure the four-point victory.
The two teams went back and forth down the stretch and alternated leads before he knocked down his only three of the night to give WMU a 61-60 lead with 2:01 remaining.
After Ball State regained the lead thanks to a lay-up from Tahjai Teague, Johnson went back to work in the post and earned an and-one to give WMU a 63-62 advantage with a minute left. On the ensuing possession, WMU's defense forced Ball State to commit a turnover, leading to a lay-up by Johnson and a three-point lead for the Broncos.
The Cardinals once again responded with a lay-up to trim the Bronco lead down to one before junior Michael Flowers was fouled and made two free-throws with 17 ticks remaining. Trailing by three, Ball State’s Teague hoisted a three-pointer that rattled around the rim before falling into the hands of Flowers. The junior guard missed his first free-throw before nailing the second with less than a second left to give WMU the 68-64 victory.
Joining Johnson in double figures was freshman Titus Wright with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Wright also corralled four rebounds and had one block against the Cardinals. Off the bench, junior Rafael Cruz Jr. led the way with six points, five rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes of action.
Junior Michael Flowers in 31 minutes registered just five points to go along with three rebounds and two assists. The five-point performance for Flowers snapped his 26-game streak of scoring in double figures. Flowers is now just 22 points away from becoming the 43rd member of WMU’s 1,000-point club.
As a team the Broncos shot a season-high 61.9 percent from the field while knocking down three from long distance. From the charity stripe the Broncos were 13-of-20 and dominated Ball State in the paint, 36-24. WMU also out rebounded Ball State, 32-23 and held the Cardinals to just 12 second chance points.
The victory gave Western Michigan back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 18 and improved its overall record to 11-12 and 4-6 in Mid-American Conference play.
The two teams went back and forth to begin the game as WMU made its first three field goals to take an early 9-7 lead at the first media timeout. Western Michigan held a 13-9 lead at the 11-minute mark after holding Ball State scoreless from the field for over three minutes.
WMU widened its lead to 25-21 at the 4:10 mark thanks to three straight points from Johnson before Ball State embarked on a 6-0 run to regain the lead. A lay-up from redshirt sophomore Jason Whitens pushed the Broncos back in front late in the first half prior to back-to-back threes from Ball State gave the Cardinals a 33-30 lead at halftime.
The back and forth battle continued in the second half as the Cardinals held on to a four-point lead with 12 minutes remaining before four straight points from Rafael Cruz Jr. WMU regained the lead at the midway point of the second half as senior Jared Printy connected on his only three of the night to give the Brown & Gold a 49-48 advantage.
WMU and Ball State continued to trade baskets late in the second half before Johnson took over rattling off 15 straight points to give the Broncos a three-point lead with 30 seconds remaining. A lay-up from Ball State’s Jarron Coleman slimmed WMU’s lead down to one before Michael Flowers connected on two free-throws with 17 seconds left to extend the Bronco lead to 67-64.
On the ensuing possession, Ball State’s Tahjai Teague got off a three-pointer with under 10 seconds remaining that rattled around the rim and out leading to Flowers being fouled and heading to the line once again. Flowers missed the first free-throw before making the second to secure the four-point victory.
Neither team led by more than seven in Saturday’s contest as WMU and Ball State battled to 13 lead changes and eight ties. In the second half the Broncos outscored the Cardinals 38-31 to notch their 11th win of the season and improve their home record to 8-3.