Shayne Whittington had 14 points, eight rebounds and six blocks and Western Michigan closed the game on a 9-2 run to defeat Oakland 76-72 Saturday.
Austin Richie hit a 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining for the Broncos (6-1) to tie the score at 70-all. Two free throws by Nate Hutcheson and a layup by Dan Loney put Western Michigan up 74-70 with 22 seconds left. The Golden Grizzlies (2-6) got within 74-72 after a pair of free throws from Corey Petros, but Richie followed with two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to close it out.
Hutcheson scored 13 points for Western Michigan and Darius Paul had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Oakland got 18 points from Travis Bader, 17 from Duke Mondy, 13 from Petros and 11 apiece from Drew Valentine and Ryan Bass. Valentine and Petros each had 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
