Broncos prove too much to handle, defeat University of Toledo 73-41

By Katrina Murphy
Sports Editor

The Western Michigan University men’s basketball team (11-7, 3-2 MAC) bounced back from their loss to Ball State University on Wednesday with a 73-41 win over the University of Toledo (3-16, 0-5 MAC) on Saturday.

“Western Michigan is very good at defending and forcing you into doing things you don’t normally do,” Toledo head coach Gene Cross said.  “They [Western Michigan] forced us into playing a way that’s not conducive to winning and then they ran it right after us.”

The first points for the Brown and Gold came at the 18:50 mark with a short pull-up jumper by senior guard David Kool.  Less than a minute later, senior center Donald Lawson put up a quick lay-up for two while Kool answered back with another jumper at the 17:53 mark.

“It can be easy to look at today and look at Toledo’s record and say ‘well, this was expected’,” said Bronco head coach Steve Hawkins.  “There’s a huge difference between winning and playing well and we played very well today – that was the thing I was most proud of.”

In the first half, Western Michigan went 16-for-34 from the field, four of which came from sophomore forward Flenard Whitfield who finished the half with 11 points, two rebounds and one steal.

Tough defense and smart ball sense from the Broncos pressured the Rockets to give up 10 possessions in the first half alone, giving the Brown and Gold an easy 11 points.

Also, the Gold and Blue’s 15 points were the lowest allowed in a half by the Broncos so far this season.

At the start of the second, the Broncos continued to dominate play with the first points of the half coming from freshman forward Nate Hutcheson with a five foot jumper at the 18:41 mark.

“The coaches have been talking to me, the managers have been talking to me, the players have been talking to me – the confidence thing is all in my head,” said Hutcheson.  “With the help of my teammates and my coaches, they’ve actually helped me out more than I can appreciate so I owe that to them.”

The second half was also an opportunity for the freshman to really highlight their abilities.  At the 10:42 mark, freshman guard Brandon Pokley sunk a smooth three-pointer to add to his six points for the evening while freshman center Shayne Whittington chipped in a quick two points 30 seconds later.

“Brandon has been shooting the ball extremely well in practice,” Hawkins said.  “He has not gotten a shot at a lot of playing time in games so we decided this would be a perfect time to go to him.”

The Broncos finished the evening 28-for-59 from the field, while the Rockets finished just 17-for-49.  Leading the way for the University of Toledo was junior forward Justin Anyijong who finished with 11 points and six rebounds, while freshman guard Josh Freelove was close behind Anyijong with 10 points, five rebounds and one assist.

For the Brown and Gold, Hutcheson finished the night with a career-high 15 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Also chipping in for the Broncos was freshman guard David Brown with six points after finishing 2-for-4 from the field.

“I felt really great about tonight,” said Brown.  “That’s why they [Western Michigan] recruited me ’cause I can get to the paint and I can shoot.”

Looking to continue their team success, the Broncos will return to University Arena on Wednesday to face the reigning MAC champs, the University of Akron (13-6, 3-2 MAC), at 7 p.m.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=13919

Posted by heraldstaff on Jan 23 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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