KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan closed out the game strong over the final 10 minutes and topped Ohio 82-73 on Tuesday night at University Arena.

Shareef Mitchell’s jumper with 9:57 left tied the game at 61, but Western Michigan followed with a 9-3 run and eventually increased its lead the rest of the way.

Mitchell led the Bobcats (15-13, 9-6 Mid-American Conference) with 21 points, while AJ Brown had 15 points and six rebounds. Jackson Paveletzke had 11 points and five assists, and Elmore James scored 10 points off the bench.

It was not nearly enough to overcome 34 points from Chansey Willis Jr., who also had eight assists for the Broncos (10-18, 7-8 MAC). JaVaughn Hannah added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Donovan Williams also had a double-double of 10 points and 12 boards.

Down three at halftime, Ohio got five points in a row from Brown to take the lead. A short time later, Brown had five more points in a row to make it a 45-40 game with 16:45 left.

Western Michigan scored five straight points to tie, and the game went back and forth for several minutes. A James three-point play gave the Bobcats a four-point lead with 12:04 left. The rest of the game was controlled by the Broncos.

Willis helped get Western Michigan off to a quick start. He scored seven of his team’s point in a row during an 11-4 start, and he later drained a 3-pointer that made it 21-11 at the 12:05 mark in the first half.

Down 23-14, the Bobcats had a 10-0 run and briefly took the lead on an Elijah Elliott 3-pointer. The rest of the first half was tight, with the Broncos leading 36-33 at the break.

The Broncos simply shot the ball better than Bobcats, finishing at 50.8%, including 8 of 19 (42.1%) from long range. They made 14 of 21 free throws. Ohio made just 41.8% of its attempts, including 9 of 28 (32.1%) 3-pointers, and was 8 of 14 at the foul line.

AJ Clayton went 0-for-5 on 3-pointers, and Ohio’s bench of James, Vic Searls and Ajay Sheldon combined to go 1 of 7 from long range.

The positive for Ohio was that Toledo continued its recent struggles with a 105-65 blowout loss to Kent State that puts all three teams tied for third place behind Akron and Miami.

The Bobcats host the rival RedHawks in the Battle of the Bricks at 1 p.m. Saturday at The Convo.