Despite Kool’s 23, Broncos fall on the road to Akron, 87-63

By Phill Swanson
Western Herald

(Robert Youngs / Western Herald) WMU junior guard David Kool scored 23 points in the Broncos’ 87-63 loss at Akron on Sunday.

David Kool moved into a 10th place tie for career points at Western Michigan University Sunday night. However, Kool’s 23 points wasn’t enough, as the Broncos fell to the University of Akron 87-63.

The Broncos (7-15, 4-5 Mid-American Conference) led nearly the first seven minutes of the first half before a series of turnovers led to a 13-0 Akron run and a 12-point deficit going into the half. Despite the deficit, the Broncos shot more than 45 percent from the field.

However, Akron shot 50 percent and only got better in the second, shooting 63 percent from the field for the
half.

“Everything, we threw at them. We tried different things off ball screens, just different things period,” Kool said. “And everything they threw up was going in.”

Akron’s good shooting was a result of their dominance inside. The Zips outscored the Broncos 34-22 in the paint, a reoccurring theme for the Broncos in the last three games.

“We’ve been exposed for two or three games now,” head coach Hawkins said,  “They just hammered it inside. It was their game plan going in and we were exposed. I have to re-examine what it is we’ve been doing.”

What the Broncos have been doing is playing small ball with Derek Drews and Flenard Whitfield in the absence of senior center Donald Lawson. Living and dying by the three ball is a battle against the house, and it appears the house will eventually win out.
Hawkins said he plans to start freshman LaMarcus Lowe Wednesday against Ohio. Shuffling the lineup won’t be the only thing the Broncos need to change. WMU’s recent woes turning the ball over will need to improve for the team to have success. Nineteen turnovers on Sunday caps off a three-game streak with 13 or more turnovers a game, a far cry from the promising eight turnovers against the University at Buffalo in the opening MAC crossover game.

The 19 turnovers led to 22 Akron points. The Broncos managed to scrum together two points off turnovers. The Broncos did manage to get three players in double digits. In addition to Kool’s 23, Shawntes Gary put in 10 points and freshman Demetrius Ward had 11. Ward’s points mostly came after the game was out of reach in the second half.

The Broncos did stay competitive rebounding the ball, as both teams pulled in identical statistics: seven offensive rebounds and 23 defensive rebounds.
The Broncos did manage to earn more second chance points than the Zips, 6-4. But the Zips 56 percent shooting on the night meant they didn’t have to put the ball back much.

Despite the loss, the Broncos are only one game back from MAC West leader Ball State University (10-11, 5-4 MAC). A win Wednesday against a beatable Ohio University team puts the Broncos in position to move past Ball State.

The Cardinals have two tough East opponents in Akron and Buffalo in their next two games, leaving the door open for the Broncos to move to the top of the division.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 10 2009. 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

Cody Kimball
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