Feb. 4, 2009

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OXFORD, Ohio -- Miami used a 16-3 run midway through the second half Wednesday night to pull away from Mid-American Conference West Division leader Ball State and cruise to a 59-41 victory.

Michael Bramos scored 14 points, 12 in the second half, and grabbed five rebounds, while Tyler Dierkers added 12 points and six boards. Brandon Lampley led Ball State with 10 points and five rebounds.

After leading by just three, 25-22, at halftime, Miami (13-7, 6-2) pushed the margin to seven on three occasions early in the second half, but could never pull away. Ball State closed to within five, 33-28 with 11:47 to play, when Bramos took over. He scored 10 of the RedHawks' next 16 points, fueling a 16-3 run that pushed the lead to 18, 49-31 by the 5:27 mark. He started the run with a layup, then added two jumpers, a dunk and a pair of free throws.

Ball State (10-10, 5-3) never came within 16 after that.

"In the first half, we played some very good defense," Head Coach Charlie Coles said. "But, we just gave up a couple of scores late in the shot clock. We were almost there. In the second half, we did a better job of that."

Miami opened the game with the first six points, but Ball State answered with a 7-0 run to take its only lead. The RedHawks scored the next seven points for a 13-7 advantage, and led by nine at 21-12 with 7:21 remaining. Ball State scored the last four points of the period to cap a 10-4 run that had it trailing by only three, 25-22 at the break.

The RedHawks used their pressure defense to force 17 Ball State turnovers, while holding the Cardinals to just 41.5 percent shooting, including 38.9 percent in the second half. Meanwhile, Miami shot 44.6 percenf for the game, had just nine turnovers and held a 31-25 rebounding advantage.

Miami returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Toledo. The 2:30 p.m. game will be televised live by Fox Sports Ohio. The RedHawks next home game is Saturday, Feb. 14 when Miami welcomes Western Michigan to Millett Hall. The game is part of a doubleheader on Sweet 16 and Hall of Fame Weekend.

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