Broncos end MAC Tournament play with heartbreaking loss

By Katrina Murphy
Sports Editor

Six seconds.

That’s all it took for the Western Michigan University men’s basketball team to be knocked out of the 2010 FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland.

On Thursday, March 11, the Broncos defeated Central Michigan University, 69-60, to advance to semifinal play.

Senior guard David Kool scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half to help propel the Brown and Gold past their in-state rivals.

Sophomore Flenard Whitfield tied his career high with 12 rebounds and 12 points for his fourth career double-double.

Freshman guard David Brown contributed 11 points, the most he has ever scored against a Division I team.

Senior center Donald Lawson also finished the game with 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

The Chippewas kicked off the first half with an early six-point lead, 11-5, but the Broncos responded when Brown converted a three-point play and then sank a three from the top of the key to bring Western Michigan within one.

The Maroon and Gold hit a bucket to take the lead back to four, but Kool found sophomore Flenard Whitfield on a fast break for a lay-up and then Bronco guard Mike Douglas set up a perfect lob for a Whitfield dunk to tie the game, 17-17, with 7:17 remaining in the half.

CMU took the lead once again after hitting three consecutive triples to kick-off a 14-5 run, putting the Chippewas in the lead, 31-22, at the end of the half.

At the start of the second, Central Michigan expanded their lead to 12, 34-22, with yet another three-pointer.  Lawson answered back with back-to-back dunks and then a lay-up off a fast break from Brown cut the Bronco deficit to eight with 17:28 left in the game.

After a series of well-executed plays, the Brown and Gold took their first lead of the night, 56-54, with 4:42 remaining.

Kool added to the lead with a lay-up off a baseline inbounds play and Whitfield hit a pair of freebies to put WMU up six, 60-54.  The Maroon and Gold closed within three, but Kool hit three free throws to extend the Bronco lead to six with just over a minute left to play, sealing the victory for Western Michigan.

In the semifinal match-up, Kool scored a career-high 39 points, but a conversion off an offensive rebound with six seconds left allowed the University of Akron to narrowly defeat the Broncos, 66-64.

“It was a tremendous honor to play on this court,” Kool said.  “To play with my teammates, with my coaches.  With our fans up there supporting us, it was all I could ask for and more.  It is something I will cherish in my heart forever.”

Kool made 12-of-21 field goals, including five three-pointers, to move into sixth place in MAC history with 2,116 career points, passing Gary Trent of Ohio and Ray McCallum of Ball State University.

At the end of the first half, the Zips led by nine, 40-31.

The Brown and Gold opened up second half play on a 5-0 run to pull within seven, 43-36.  Akron scored six of the next eight to extend their lead back to double-digits, but a three by Kool started a 16-5 run to tie the score, 54-54, with 8:28 left to play.

The Green and White hit two free throws to keep the lead, 56-54.  Kool responded with a pair of freebies to tie the game and then drove the lane for a basket after an offensive rebound from Whitfield.  WMU took their first lead of the night, 58-56, with 5:12 remaining.

Three points in a row gave Akron the lead once again, but Kool hit a jumper at the 3:06 mark to put the Broncos back in the lead.  Kool then connected on another pair of free throws to push the lead to three with 2:38 to go.

A Western Michigan turnover led to a dunk for the Zips with just under two minutes to play, but McLemore fought through a double team to score, bringing WMU’s lead back to three, 64-61.  Akron responded with a shot beyond the arc to tie the score with 1:10 left.

Another Brown and Gold turnover put the ball into Akron’s hands, who scored on the put-back.  Kool had the ball in his hands for the last shot of the game, but missed with his foot on the line from just above the top of the key.

“Both teams did everything they could,” said Bronco head coach Steve Hawkins.  “It’s just a really difficult pill to swallow.”

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Posted by heraldstaff on Mar 14 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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