Article from http://gonu.com/.....
Northeastern was once again victimized by three-pointers, allowing 10 to Western Michigan in a 75-60 loss to the Broncos in the consolation bracket of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Wednesday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. Northeastern allowed 10 three-pointers in a loss to St. Mary's and now has given up 30 over the last three games. The Huskies will play SMU Friday at 2 p.m., Eastern, 9 a.m., Hawaiian. After not making a three-pointer yesterday against St. Mary's, the Huskies drained one on the game's first possession as Matt Janning connected from long distance. However, it was Western Michigan that rained threes in the first half, going 7-for-10 from downtown. The Huskies were up 9-8, but the Broncos went on a 7-0 run to take the lead. I thought we responded well and played great to start the second half, but we just didn't execute down the stretch," said KSU head coach Tony Ingle. "Western Michigan made the plays they needed to make down the stretch."
Baptiste Bataille cut WMU's lead to four, 18-14, with a three-pointer at 11:30, but the Broncos kept pouring in the triples. They went on an 11-2 run, capped by a triple by David Kool at 7:07. In a three-minute sequence, the teams kept trading three-pointers. Mathiang Muo nailed one 5:56, but Demetrius Ward immediately answered with one at 5:43. Muo came right back with a three on a kickout pass from Chaisson Allen at 5:07. Ward then hit one at 3:48 that was answered by Allen at 3:17. However, Alex Wolf came right back down and drilled a three at 3:04. At that point, the Broncos led 43-27. Western Michigan went into halftime up 44-28, having hit 7-of-10 three-point attempts.
In the second half, the Huskies showed a glimmer of hope when Allen drained back-to-back threes to cut Western Michigan's lead to 13, 57-44, with 11:50 left, but the Broncos proved to be too much for the Huskies as they went on a 10-2 run to build up a 21-point lead. Allen did his best to keep the Huskies in the game, scoring 11 second-half points. He led NU with 16 points. Janning had 13 points, but was only 4-for-15 from the field, 1-for-7 from behind the arc. Northeastern as a team shot only 32.8 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from downtown. Free throws again were a problem as the Huskies were just 13-for-22 (59.1 percent) from the charity stripe. Wolf led the Broncos with 15 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from three. Kool added 13 points, and Donald Lawson posted a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds).
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Northeastern vs Western Michigan
12/23/09 10:00 a.m. at Stan Sheriff Center - Honolulu, HI
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VISITORS: Northeastern 2-7
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 Bigby, Alwayne...... f 0-3 0-2 0-1 2 2 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 20
32 Adako, Manny........ f 2-5 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 5 6 0 3 0 1 18
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 2-4 0-0 1-2 3 5 8 2 5 0 2 1 3 27
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 5-13 4-7 2-3 1 2 3 0 16 3 1 0 0 27
23 Janning, Matt....... g 4-15 1-7 4-5 0 0 0 2 13 2 1 0 0 27
11 Lima, Vinny......... 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 6
14 Lee, Jonathan....... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 1 9
15 McDonald, Brian..... 1-3 1-3 0-0 1 4 5 2 3 0 0 0 0 12
20 Smith, Joel......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4
21 Marshavelski, Dinko. 0-1 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
24 Muo, Mathiang....... 2-6 2-4 0-1 0 3 3 3 6 1 1 0 0 26
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 2-4 1-2 3-4 0 0 0 1 8 1 2 0 1 13
33 Felix, Ben.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 6
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 19-58 9-26 13-22 12 18 30 22 60 11 13 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 9-29 31.0% Game: 32.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 4-14 28.6% Game: 34.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 10-15 66.7% Game: 59.1% 8
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HOME TEAM: Western Michigan 5-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 DOUGLAS, Mike....... f 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 3 1 0 0 11
33 WHITFIELD, Flenard.. f 2-3 0-0 2-4 2 2 4 2 6 0 2 0 1 11
24 LAWSON, Donald...... c 4-9 0-0 3-3 5 5 10 1 11 1 3 3 1 31
03 McLEMORE, Martelle.. g 3-7 1-2 0-0 0 3 3 3 7 1 0 0 0 20
23 KOOL, David......... g 3-10 2-4 5-6 0 1 1 2 13 7 0 0 3 31
01 WARD, Demetrius..... 2-4 2-3 0-1 1 2 3 2 6 1 2 0 0 15
10 POKLEY, Brandon..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
11 HUTCHESON, Nate..... 2-8 0-2 3-4 0 2 2 1 7 0 5 0 0 27
12 THOMAS, Ed.......... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 3
15 WOLF, Alex.......... 4-4 4-4 3-4 1 4 5 2 15 1 1 0 1 24
21 WHITTINGTON, Shayne. 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 6
25 BROWN, David........ 3-3 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 4 7 1 1 0 0 11
32 CONTEH, Muhammed.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 3 4 7
Totals.............. 24-50 10-16 17-24 13 27 40 24 75 16 18 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25 52.0% 2nd Half: 11-25 44.0% Game: 48.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 62.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-14 78.6% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 70.8% 2,1
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Officials: Duke Edsall, Bill Kennedy, Terry Oglesby
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Western Michigan-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 28 32 - 60
Western Michigan.............. 44 31 - 75
Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Consolation Round Game
Points in the paint-NU 12,WMU 26. Points off turnovers-NU 23,WMU 8.
2nd chance points-NU 6,WMU 7. Fast break points-NU 0,WMU 0.
Bench points-NU 20,WMU 38. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-01:51, WMU 2nd-01:29.
Largest lead-NU by 3 1st-19:38, WMU by 22 2nd-06:48.
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Article from http://www.mlive.com/.....
It isn’t often that reality surpasses one’s dreams. But Alex Wolf found himself there Wednesday — in paradise literally and emotionally. The stocky, 5-foot-11 junior and walk-on from Parchment High School scored a career-high 15 points, pulled down a career-best five rebounds and played a career-most 24 minutes. All meaningful minutes. And in a game that mattered to the evolution of this Western Michigan University men’s basketball team.
With Wolf leading the way, at least in terms of point production, the Broncos put together what star guard David Kool called a “total game,” whipping Northeastern from start to finish in a 75-60 win at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. “I don’t even know if I dreamed this much,” said Wolf, who walked on at WMU more than three years ago, and spent his first season as a practice-only player. “I just tried to be a role player, be solid and I knocked down quite a few shots today. It was pretty sweet.” That final sentiment could be echoed team-wide. On the heels of a difficult four-point loss Tuesday to USC, the Broncos outshot, out-rebounded and out-hustled their opponent in the second of three games at this University of Hawaii-hosted event. WMU (5-5) plays the winner of SMU and College of Charleston — which was scheduled to tip off in the wee hours of Thursday morning Eastern Time — at 4:30 p.m. Friday. “It was especially nice to see because (Tuesday) was a tough loss and I didn’t know how we’d come out and play,” Kool said by phone from Hawaii. “It’s the sign of a mature team, us growing up a bit.” “You can always nitpick,” added coach Steve Hawkins, “but, for the most part, it’s very difficult to find fault with the way things went today.”
WMU made 10 of 16 3-pointers, rarely forcing a shot, hit 48 percent from the floor overall and out-rebounded Northeastern 40-30. The Broncos built their first double-digit advantage at 26-16 with 7:35 left in the first half and never let the margin drop into single digits again, taking a lead as large as 22 (70-48) with about 7 minutes remaining in the game. Both milestones were reached on old-fashioned 3-point plays by senior center Donald Lawson. But it was the more modern-style 3s by Wolf that were most surprising. The reserve point guard didn’t play at all Tuesday against USC and hadn’t attempted a shot this season. Wednesday, he went 4-for-4 from long range.
“Oh, man, I just felt comfortable,” said Wolf, who had earned a spot in the rotation until a nasty flu bug kept him away from the team during the first week of the season. “A lot of shots came in the flow of the offense. They were playing David, slanting their defense toward him. He hit me with a couple good passes. I was glad I could knock them down.” “I feel real good for him,” said Kool, who finished with 13 points, seven assists and no turnovers. “He’s like my brother on the team. When he succeeds, I succeed. It was great to see the smile on his face. When you get opportunities, you’ve got to relish them.” Wolf did. And so did others. Sophomore Demetrius Ward (six points) finally found his legs, hitting a pair of triples, and freshman David Brown (seven points) hit all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 3-pointer. Entering Wednesday, Brown and Ward were a combined 7-of-51 shooting on the season. They finished 5-of-7 together against Northeastern. “They just stayed within themselves and took the shots they’re supposed to take,” Hawkins said, talking about a number of players, though he personally spent time this week trying to fix a flaw he spotted in Ward’s shot release. Lawson joined Kool and Wolf in double figures, with 11 points. He also tallied eight rebounds and three blocks and was the “quarterback” of the offense at times, Hawkins said, “echoing” the play calls while Kool did his best to free himself from the defense.
Such play from Kool and Lawson is somewhat expected. From Wolf? Not so much. “Its a testament of the kid’s character,” Hawkins said of Wolf, who he chose to play Wednesday, he said, because Wolf is a better shooter than starter Mikey Douglas and Northeastern plays a zone defense. Douglas also spent much of the game in foul trouble. “We’ve told our entire bench, ‘You have to be ready, because you don’t know when your name, when your number is going to be called yet,” Hawkins continued. “When you come in, you’ve got to produce and be ready. “More than anything (Wolf’s big game) came at a time we needed it. We needed this Wednesday. To me, it was as close to a must win as we’ve had this year. I was very worried about this game, with the short turnaround, how emotional (the USC loss) was and the minutes logged (Tuesday).” WMU held Northeastern star Matt Janning to 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting. It was the largest margin of defeat for the Huskies (2-7), whose previous six losses came a combined 31 points, after they were picked to with the Colonial Athletic Association. It was the first national television win for WMU since beating Eastern Michigan on ESPNU on Feb. 20, 2008.
Article from http://www.wmubroncos.com/.....
HONOLULU -- Junior Alex Wolf hit all four of his three-pointers on his way to a career-high 15 points to lead Western Michigan past Northeastern, 75-60, in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Wednesday morning at the Stan Sheriff Center. Wolf had only scored 11 points in his career, but exploded against the Huskies (2-7), preseason favorites in the Colonial Athletic Association. David Kool added 13 points, seven assists, three steals and one rebound, while Donald Lawson had his second double-double of the season with 11 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, one steal and one assist for the Broncos (5-5). The Broncos converted on 10-of-16 three-pointers, while shooting 48 percent from the field (24-50) and 70.8 percent at the free throw line (17-24). Defensively, WMU held NU to 32.8 percent shooting (19-58), including 10-of-32 inside the three-point line. The Broncos also out-rebounded Northeastern, 40-30.
The Huskies opened the game with a three-pointer and held a one-point edge, 9-8, with 14:17 to go in the game. The Broncos responded with seven points in a row on a three-pointer by McLemore, two Nate Hutcheson free throws and a driving lay-up by David Brown with 12:25 to play, 15-9. The Broncos kept it up as part of a 21-7 run to go up by 13, 29-16, with 7:07 to play after Kool's three-pointer. The Huskies tried to cut into the lead, but WMU always had the answer and increased the lead to 16, 40-24, after a three-pointer by Demetrius Ward and again after a three-ball by Wolf, 43-27, with 3:04 to go in the opening half. WMU held that 16-point lead, 44-28, into the locker room. The Broncos shot 52 percent in the opening half, including 7-of-10 three-pointers, while holding Northeastern to 10-of-29 shooting (.345). The Broncos got eight points from Kool and Wolf in the first half.
No one scored in the first two-plus minutes of the second half until Kool kicked it out to Wolf for a three-pointer to put the Broncos up 19, 47-28. Northeastern responded with six in a row to close within 13, 47-34. WMU responded as Wolf drove the lane and found Flenard Whitfield for an easy lay-up and Ward pushed the ball to Kool for a wide-open three-pointer, 52-34, with 15:17 to go in the game. The Huskies made one more push to within 13, 57-44, after a three-pointer with 11:50 to play. The Broncos came back and Brown beat the shot clock with a long jumper to start a 10-2 run for the Brown & Gold that iced the game. Lawson highlighted the rally that put WMU up 21, 67-46, with 7:37 to go with an old-fashioned three-point play on a nice feed by Mike Douglas. The Broncos will play College of Charleston on Christmas at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will not be televised and will not be available on the Bronco Radio Network. Check back to WMUBroncos.com for updates on an internet link to listen to the game
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Thomas R. Wolf, Jr. <wmuwolf@gmail.com>