The 2011 MAC Tournament is underway, and the Western Michigan Broncos became the first team to move on to the semifinals tomorrow with a 67-56 win over the Bowling Green Falcons at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Demetrius Ward led the Broncos with 12 points and 6 rebounds while Flenard Whitfield added 12 points and 10 rebounds as Western improved to 20-11 on the season.
Guard Dee Brown led the Falcons with 17 points and 5 rebounds, but team leaders Scott Thomas and A'uston Calhoun combined to score 14 points on 5-16 shooting to hamper BG's hopes for the upset. Forward Danny McElroy did his best to make up for it, scoring 15 points off the bench for BG, who shot 42.9% from the field in dropping to 14-19 on the year. The Falcons really struggled from behind the arc, shooting just 1-12 from deep while Western Michigan made 6-16 from three.
The Broncos led 33-26 at halftime and never really seemed to be in danger despite the lead hovering around 10 points the entire second half. Western Michigan committed just 8 turnovers to Bowling Green's 13 and took 10 more free throws.
Western Michigan will await the winner of Thursday's second game between Akron and Miami-Ohio.