Bronco basketball closes out regular season

By Katrina Murphy
Sports Editor

On Saturday, Feb. 27, the Western Michigan University men’s basketball team fell to in-state rival Central Michigan University, 74-66, at Rose Center in Mt. Pleasant.

Senior guard David Kool scored 31 points, moving himself into 10^th place in Mid-American Conference history for scoring.

“He’s such an exceptional player,” said CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler.  “He’s such a tough guard.  He can shoot it and at the same time put it on the floor and get his own shot.”

Kool connected on 8-of-19 from the floor and 14-for-14 from the floor, while picking up five assists and four rebounds as well for the Brown and Gold.  With the 14 free throws, Kool tied WMU alumnus Joe Reitz for the school record in career free throws with 576.

Sophomore forward Flenard Whitfield also added eight points, four rebounds and one block while sophomore guard Mike Douglas chipped in eight points and three assists.

Western Michigan kicked off the game on a 9-4 run, after a triple from Douglas with 16:25 left in the first half.  The Broncos were able to hold a 15-10 lead after a pair of free throws from Kool with 12:50 left to play.

The Chippewas scored the next five of seven attempted shots to tie the game, 17-17, and then the Maroon and Gold took their first lead of the game, 20-19, after a three-pointer with 8:37 left to play in the half.

“It was a back-and-forth game,” Kool said. “Exactly what we expected.  We knew they were going to stay around.”

Kool came back on the next possession to hit his first three-pointer of the night to give the Broncos a two point lead, 22-20, at the 7:55 mark.  Junior guard Alex Wolf kicked off a five-point run to put the Brown and Gold ahead by eight, 28-20, with 5:36 left in the half.

However, CMU refused to go away and cut the deficit to four, 34-30, after a 8-2 run to close to half.

As the second half opened, senior Martelle McLemore and Douglas connected on three-pointers to put the Broncos back up by seven, 40-33, but a 5-0 run by the Maroon and Gold brought them within two, 40-38, with 16:31 left in the game.

With 4:13 left to play, CMU opened up a 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 63-58.  The Brown and Gold were unable to pull within four for the remainder of the game.

Both teams tied with 33 rebounds apiece, but Central Michigan out-rebounded the Broncos, 6-1, in offensive rebounds in the second half.  The Chippewas also forced 15 turnovers for the Brown and Gold, including 10 steals that led to a 15-11 lead in points.

The Broncos returned to University Arena on Thursday, March 4 to host Ball State University as the senior took to the floor for the last time.

Kool led four players in double figures with 16 points to help lead the Broncos to a 67-52 win over the Cardinals in front of 3,121 fans.

“This was my home for four years,” McLemore said.  “The atmosphere, everyone was always positive.  When I was up and down, everyone backed me up.  I had fun playing.”

McLemore closed out the night with 14 points, three rebounds and two steals while Whitfield put up 12 points and seven rebounds.  Senior Donald Lawson also added seven rebounds, a career high four assists and two blocks.

A baseline shot on a fast break helped the Brown and Gold open up a 7-0 run to start the game.  The Broncos continued to build on their lead and eventually led by 10, 20-10, with 8:38 left in the first half after back-to-back three pointers from McLemore and freshman Nate Hutcheson.

Western Michigan began to fall back and Ball State used the opportunity to pick up an 11-0 run to put the Red and White ahead, 21-20, for the first time of the night.

With 3:23 left in the first half, Kool hit a pair of free throws to take sole possession of first place in MAC history with 578 career free throws.  After a pull-up jumper from Whitfield, WMU took the halftime lead, 29-27.

Ball State pulled within four with 13:34 left in the game, but Western Michigan picked up a 12-2 run over a three minute span to regain the lead, 51-37, after a pair of free throws from freshman guard David Brown.

The Cardinals pulled in within eight with 7:43 left, but Kool scored a lay-up off an assist from Lawson and then found McLemore for another lay-up to put WMU back up by 12, 55-43, with 5:56 left to go.

The Broncos converted 10-of-14 free throws in the final two minutes to hold off the Red and White.

“It was a physical game,” said Bronco head coach Steve Hawkins. “If we were to lose a basketball game tonight, we didn’t want it to be because of a lack of physicality.  I thought both teams played really hard, and I was really happy with how physical we were.”

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