 WESTERN MICHIGAN 64, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 61
In the victory, senior point guard Mike Douglas finished with 13 points and four assists, the last of which pushed him past Brian Snider for sole possession of second place on the program's career assists list. Douglas had 407 career assists, and needs 20 more to reach Billy Stanback's program record of 427 career assists.
Douglas was one of four Broncos to reach double-digit scoring against the Chippewas, including Nate Hutcheson (17), Flenard Whitfield (12), and Matt Stainbrook (11). Stainbrook had a game-high nine rebounds, narrowly missing out on his third double-double of the season.
The Broncos entered halftime trailing CMU, 33-32, but they came out firing in the second half to take the lead. Stainbrook got things started with a lay-up at the 18:19 mark, and Whitfield scored on two
consecutive possessions to give the Broncos a 38-33 lead with 17:16 remaining. Douglas joined the act, swiping a ball on the defensive end and draining a three-pointer from the wing to make it 41-33.
Hutcheson followed with a trey at the 16:19 mark, and Stainbrook capped the run with a pair of free throws at the 15:03 mark to give WMU a 46-34 lead.
The Broncos kept their advantage at double-digits as late as the 4:49 mark of the second half, when Demetrius Ward drilled a triple from the right corner give WMU a 61-50 lead. The Chippewas pulled to within three points with 2:21 remaining, but the Broncos were able to hold them off. Whitfield ‘s defensive rebound with 15 seconds remaining sealed the deal.
The first half was back and forth for the most part, with the Chippewas able to string together enough scoring runs to keep the lead going into half.
The Broncos took their first lead of the day when Whitfield hit a turnaround hook shot at the 15:33 mark to make it 7-5, but CMU battled its way back. The Broncos actually led by as many as eight points at one point as Whitfield hit another jumper to give WMU a 24-16 lead with 5:59 remaining in the half. However, CMU took the lead with less than a minute remaining on a Derek Jackson three-pointer.
Courtesy of Western Michigan Athletics
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