Balanced Broncos hold off BSU
24.05.12
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan men's basketball team used a balanced attack to erase a first half deficit, keeping the pressure on Ball State in the second half as the Broncos beat the Cardinals, 69-63, in the first round of the 2012 First Energy MAC Mens Basketball Tournament.
With the win, the Broncos improve to 13-19 on the season and will face the Northern Illinois Huskies in the second round of the tournament, played at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
The Broncos' had five players score in double figures, led by senior forward Flenard Whitfield with 12 points. Mike Douglas added just five points, but what important points they were; Douglas went 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final two minutes of play to keep the Cardinals at arm's length in the waning moments.
BSU's Jarrod Jones cut the Broncos' lead to just two points with 33 seconds remaining, but Douglas added four straight free throws to up the Broncos' lead to six points with 19 seconds remaining. It was a lead they would ultimately maintain for the win.
Source: MAC Report Online