Dec 6, 2003

Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Plagued by five early turnovers over the first 3:37 of play, Miami (2-2; 0-1 MAC) quickly found itself trailing 11-0 and was never able to recover as Western Michigan (2-1; 1-0 MAC) posted a 61-38 win in the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.

Tim Schenke ended Miami's scoring drought at the 13:55 mark, nailing a 3-pointer. The Broncos eventually build their lead to 15--22-7--by the 6:14 mark in the first half. Josh Hausfeld scored seven of his team-best 10 points over the next two and a half minutes, drilling two field goals and draining a trey as Miami went on a 13-4 spurt to shrink the gap to six at the 1:39 mark, 26-20. Danny Horace and Chet Mason each drilled 3-pointers during the surge.

Miami, however, sent Mike Williams to the free throw line twice over the final minutes of the half, and Williams connected on 3-of-4 free throws to take a nine-point edge at the intermission, 29-20.

Hausfeld opened the second half with a three-point play, finishing on a layup and hitting the ensuing free throw, to make the score 29-23. That would be as close as the RedHawks could get. Horace tossed in a layup with 5:34 left to move the score to 49-38. Miami was unable to score again as the Broncos surged to their largest lead of the contest, which was the final margin, 61-38.

Ben Reed collected six of Western Michigan's seven 3-pointers, going 6-of-7 from 3-point range to lead all scorers with 22 points. Anthony Kann tallied 15 points, while Williams notched 13 points and a game-best seven rebounds and four steals.

Miami returns to action, hosting Xavier on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Cincinnati's WB64 and on Channel 35 The CAT in Clevleand.