Wednesday night the Western Michigan Broncos improved to 4-1 in MAC play (13-5 overall) while the Miami RedHawks fell to 1-4 in the MAC (6-12 overall), as the Broncos claimed victory at Millett Hall. This places WMU's win streak at four games, keeping them again at the top of the MAC West, while Miami is tied for the bottom of the MAC East with Ohio.
The first half actually started pretty well for the RedHawks. Just about halfway through the first, Miami was out to 17-8 lead thanks to a Jaryd Eustace three-pointer. The Broncos did have a resurgence, however, but Miami still led 23-21 at the half.
The game remained close for the initial stages of the second half, and the ball game was tied at 35 with 13:57 remaining in the game. It was at this point that the Broncos began to build a lead for themselves and would not again trail.
The RedHawks refused to quit though, and with 1:47 left, a pair of L.J. Livingston free throws cut the Bronco lead to six, 59-53. It was free throws that would be the death of Miami though, as the Broncos did not have to make a field goal from that point on. Instead, the Broncos drew 6 fouls in the last two minutes that resulted in eight points, keeping Miami off WMU's back and resulting in a 69-58 final score.
Four of the WMU starters finished in double figures; center Drake LaMont had 10 points, forward Tucker Haymond had 15, guard David Brown also had 10, and guard Austin Richie led the team with 16. Despite the high scoring performance, as a team the Broncos only shot 35%
Miami's first and second leading scorers came off the bench tonight. The aforementioned center L.J. Livingston and guard Jaryd Eustace scored 12 and 11 points respectively. Starting guard Eric Washington also contributed 10 for the Miami effort. The RedHawks shot just 35.2% on the night. Not the prettiest offensive performance from either team.
Next up for these teams are a pair of Saturday games. Miami will head to DeKalb to face NIU and the Broncos will host Akron and hope to avenge the conference opener the Broncos dropped 72-52.
Game Leaders
Player | Miami | Western Michigan |
---|---|---|
Points | L.J. Livingston (12) | A. Richie (16) |
Rebounds | L.J. Livingston (7) | C. Tava (10) |
Assists | E. Washington (6) | A. Richie (3) |
Blocks | L.J. Livingston (2) | D. LaMont (1) |
Steals | E. Washington (1) | A. Richie (2) |