Jan. 3, 2006
DeKALB, Ill.--Doug Penno scored 16 second-half points and William Hatcher drilled a jumper with four seconds left to catapult Miami University's men's basketball team to a thrilling 58-56 win at Northern Illinois on Tuesday evening at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill.
Miami, who ended a four-game skid, evened its record to 5-5 and improved to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play. Northern Illinois dropped to 6-4 overall and 1-1 in league action, while losing its first home game of the season. The win also marked the first time the Red and White won a game at Northern Illinois since 1984, ending a five-game losing streak when playing in DeKalb.
A 3-pointer by Nathan Peavy helped Miami to a five-point edge at the 16:48 mark, 7-2. NIU came back to knot the game off a James Hughes jumper at the 14:52 mark, 7-7, but the RedHawks were able to post an 11-7 lead off a Hatcher jumper at 12:09. A Monty St. Clair trey with 11:31 remaining in the first half put the RedHawks up 14-10, but the Huskies staged a 14-3 run to post a 24-17 lead by the 4:44 mark. Chad Troyer drilled a trey with 2:37 remaining to put the RedHawks within four, 26-22, but the Huskies rounded out the half on a 10-3 surge to record a 36-25 lead at the half.
While Miami shot a solid 43.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range in the first half, NIU shot a stellar 52.2 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point range.
Northern Illinois' shooting cooled off considerably over the second 20 minutes, as the Huskies shot 25.0 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from 3-point range. Miami came back in the second half to hit 53.8 percent of its field goals and 45.5 percent of its long-range shots.
Hughes started the second-half scoring with a jumper at the 18:52 mark, giving the Huskies their largest lead of the game, 38-25. Two Penno treys and a jumper, a 3-pointer from Peavy and buckets by Nate VanderSluis and Tim Pollitz comprised a 15-1 Miami run over the next 8:29 which evaporated the 13-point Huskie lead to give the RedHawks the 40-39 edge with 10 minutes left. A Pollitz layup at 5:27 handed Miami the 51-47 lead, but the teams would be tied three times over the remaining minutes, the last coming with 41 seconds left off a pair of Ryan Paradise free throws.
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Miami brought the ball down the floor and called a timeout with 32 seconds remaining and one with eight seconds left. With the ball in Hatcher's hands, the senior guard drove to the free throw line and nailed the jumper with four seconds remaining. NIU called its last timeout of the game and got the ball down the floor in enough time for Paradise to get a good shot off from 3-point range, but it was off the mark and Miami came away with the 58-56 win.
Penno led all scorers with 16 points, while VanderSluis added 10 points and Peavy led all rebounders with 11 boards.
Todd Peterson led the Huskies with 12 points.
After playing four straight road games and six of their last seven on the road, the RedHawks return home for the first time in a month to host Eastern Michigan in the second game of a Miami men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 7. Women's tip time is 2 p.m. with the men's game scheduled at 4 p.m.
Notes: The win was Miami's second straight MAC road win ... NIU went 16-for-19 from the free throw line, while the RedHawks did not have one free throw attempt in the game ... Miami improved to 20-12 in the all-time series with NIU ... the RedHawks last win in DeKalb was on Feb. 15, 1984, 60-51.
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