Broncos, Hornets Both Successful

It was just the first exhibition game of the year for both teams. No big deal right? It was Division 3 taking on Division 1. The outcome was never in question right? The outcome was in fact not in question but this game was quite a big deal for both teams and for the community in what may become a cross-town (or across the street) exhibition game tradition.

For the Broncos the focus was getting those first game jitters out and getting some young players some valuable playing time. “The whole idea is to play a lot of kids and find out where we’re at,” said WMU head coach Steve Hawkins

The Broncos would see eleven players reach double figures in minutes, nine players score and twelve players pull down rebounds.

For Kalamazoo College it was a chance to take their game to a vastly superior opponent, play hard for an entire game and to execute their systems well against a better team. Head coach Rob Page was pleased with his team’s effort.

“I was very happy with how our guys handled things,” said Page. “Western gets out and they really get after you defensively… last year we weren’t traditionally really good when teams mixed things up on us but I think our offensive ball game has come a long way. We executed today better the we have maybe all year in practice.”

“They’re organized,” said Hawkins complementing the Hornets’ efforts. “Anytime, especially early in the year like this, that a team can execute a little bit they can cause you problems. They’ve got good players over there and they’ve got kids that can shoot the ball.”

The Broncos did come away with some areas they would like to work on such as defending the dribble hand off and the poor free throw shooting in the first half. The Broncos averaged just 37.5% from the line in the first half, although the Broncos would shoot 76.2% in the second half.

Scoring wise Ben Reed would finish with 20 points and Levi Rost finished with 17.

K-College would be led by Tyler Worst with 16 points and Tony Wichmann with 13 points.

The Broncos will take on their next exhibition opponent Friday November 12 at 1:30pm hosting Quincy University. Admission is free.

Oh, and the final score? WMU: 80 – KC: 59