Jan. 30, 2010

Final Stats |  Quotes |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 

OXFORD, Ohio - The Miami University men’s basketball team jumped out to a season-high 17-point first-half lead, limiting Eastern Michigan to just 14 points in the opening period, and held on for a 61-51 victory over the Eagles Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall. The win gave the RedHawks (8-13, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) their sixth-straight home victory and 14th straight win in the series with Eastern Michigan (10-10, 2-5 MAC).

Junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard tallied 11 points and six rebounds while junior forward Nick Winbush also scored 11 points, as he reached double digits in scoring for the fourth-straight game. Winbush shot 3-of-4 from behind the arc to spur the RedHawks to 8-of-17 shooting from distance while hitting 50.0 percent from the floor for the game. Senior center Adam Fletcher also pitched in nine points and six caroms for the ’Hawks.

The Eagles, meanwhile, shot 40.0 percent from both 3-point land (6-of-15) and overall, but were just 5-of-13 at the free throw line. Justin Dobbins led EMU with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Brandon Bowdry had 10 points and nine boards.

An alley-oop layup from senior guard Kenny Hayes to Ballard gave Miami its first lead at 7-5 just over five minutes into the contest. A triple by Winbush sparked a 20-3 run with trifectas also coming from sophomore guard Kramer Soderberg, freshman guard Orlando Williams and another 3-pointer from Winbush to stretch the RedHawks’ advantage to 27-10 at the 6:25 mark. Miami kept the 17-point edge at 31-14 until Eastern Michigan’s Carlos Medlock appeared to knock down a deep 3-pointer just before the halftime horn. Officials waived off the shot after review, giving the Red and White its largest halftime lead of the season.

The RedHawks were on fire from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes, knocking down 5-of-9 for 55.6 percent while shooting 47.4 percent overall on 9-of-19 shooting. The Eagles, meanwhile, managed just five field goals on 22.7 percent shooting and were 3-of-9 from the charity stripe. The 14 points allowed were the fewest Miami has given up in any half this season. Freshman guard Allen Roberts led all scorers at the break with seven points.

The teams combined to make their first seven shots of the second half and the ’Hawks buried their first four field goals in the period, but EMU chipped away at the deficit with a banked 3-pointer from Jay Higgins and another triple from Antonio Green to start 3-for-3 from distance and get within eight at 43-35 with 13:12 remaining. Winbush answered with his own trey to bump the margin to 11, but EMU scored the next 10 points, with five coming from Dobbins, to close within one at 46-45 with under eight minutes to play.

Miami responded with a 10-1 run over the next 2:40 on a pair of freebies by Ballard, 3-pointers by Williams and sophomore forward Julian Mavunga and jumper by Hayes for a 56-46 advantage with 5:14 remaining on the clock. The Eagles closed within five with 3:02 to play but would not score again as Miami scored the final five points to take the 61-51 win.

Prior to the game, head coach Charlie Coles was honored for becoming the all-time leader in career MAC victories and was presented the game ball from the record-breaking win by former Toledo head coach Bob Nichols, who held the record prior to Coles.

The RedHawks now embark on a two-game road trip, starting Thursday, Feb. 4 at Western Michigan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Kalamazoo.

--MURedHawks.com--