The "new look" Western Michigan Broncos kicked off their home schedule tonight with a 85-40 win over the Marygrove Mustangs of the NAIA.
The Broncos started off a little flat, trailing a couple times early due to turnovers and missed shots. They would slightly extend a lead, but could not fully pull away from the Mustangs before the half, leading by a score of 35-23 at the half. Shayne Whittington nearly had a double-double (7pts, 9 rbs) though at that point, and Nate Hutcheson had 8 points, but the Mustangs were shooting nearly 50% from 3 compared to the Broncos' 23% mark.
However, WMU would turn things around in the 2nd half. They would come out on a 22-3 run in the first 7:45 of the 2nd half and would never look back. Brandon Pokley hit three 3-point buckets in that to spark the run, and the Broncos would press Marygrove into submission. A lot of subs saw action including Taylor Perry, Charles Harris, and Dan Loney.
Not much more needs to be said about the game itself. I mean, this is Marygrove. Some final stats are in order though:
- Whittington finished with the exact minimum for a double-double, 10 pts, 10 rebounds.
- Pokley finished with a game-high 16 points, going 4-7 from behind the arc. He was 3-3 in the 2nd half, making the only 3's of the half for the Broncos.
- The Broncos outscored the Mustangs 50-17 in the 2nd half alone.
- 12 different Broncos scored, with Pokley, Whittington, Hutcheson, and Darius Paul all getting into double figures
The Broncos now head to Florida to play in the South Florida MTE Tournament against Loyola-Chicago, Maryland-Eastern Shore, and South Florida. So yes, the hockey team is in Alaska while the basketball team is in Florida. Makes sense if you don't think about it.