Box Score
The Titans fought hard to establish a halftime lead, but couldn't answer two withering Western Michigan runs after intermission as Detroit came up short against the Broncos on Tuesday night, 71-58, in Kalamazoo.
UDM had to play come-from-behind virtually all of the final 20 minutes as Western used an early 8-0 blitz out of the locker room to establish command. The Broncos went ahead by five points on four occasions in the first 10 minutes of the final stanza, but Detroit had an answer each time to keep the deficit from growing through that juncture.
Later, though, UDM ran out of replies. After a Eulis Stephens jumper brought Detroit to within 48-47 with 6:24 left on the clock, Western responded with another 8-0 run, and this time UDM had no reply. Free throw woes – three straight misses on the front ends of one-and-ones – added to the team's plight as Western pulled away to record its first victory in four starts. Detroit fell to 0-2 on the young season.
All-MAC guard David Kool and Shawntes Gary led all scorers with 16 for the Broncos. Xavier Keeling and freshman Donavan Foster, making his first appearance as a Titan after coming back from injury, led Detroit with 12 points apiece.
“We can't have scoring droughts like we did in the second half. Those droughts came into play,” Titans coach Ray McCallum noted. “The first four minutes of the second half, they really turned up the pressure and we didn't respond. They got the ball to their best scorer and they got to the free throw line.”
Western finished 32-for-42 from the charity stripe while Detroit was 14-for-25. Keeling grabbed nine rebounds to help UDM to a 36-33 rebounding edge. The Titans shot .365 from the field and the Broncos ended up at .439 for the night.
Unlike their Friday season opener when the Titans' shooting eye started cold and stayed that way, Detroit got off to a better beginning, making three of its first five shots from the field, Thomas Kennedy making a pair of them back-to-back. The turnovers which plagued UDM at Purdue, however, remained an early bugaboo, as the Titans were charged with four miscues in their first seven trips down the floor, resulting in a six-point WMU advantage.
The Titans kept whittling away at that deficit, though, and a 10-1 run gave them an 18-15 advantage with nine minutes to go in the first half. The lead changed hands five times until Nemanja Jokic nailed a three-pointer with seven seconds left, sending Detroit into intermission with a 29-27 lead. Jokich finished the half with nine points, just three shy of his one-game career best, but he did not score after intermission.
The Titans return to action on Saturday in their home season opener, dueling Eastern Michigan at 7:05 p.m. in Calihan Hall. In honor of 7-3 Titan center Jason Bennett, any fans standing seven feet tall – on their own, on someone's shoulders, on stilts, or any other way to meet the height requirement –will be admitted to the game absolutely free. Call the Titan Athletic Office at 31-993-1745 for more details.
-Detroit Titans-
