Miami held an 18-17 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half. The RedHawks then proceeded to outscore the Eagles (2-16, 0-9 Mid-American) 12-0 the rest of the way with nine of those points coming in the final two minutes.

The RedHawks continued their surge in the opening minutes of the second half, outscoring EMU 10-2. That gave Miami a 40-19 cushion. On the strength of 17-of-19 second-half foul shooting, the Eagles did come back, but would get no closer than 10 points.

"I was pleased with our effort in the middle of the game," said Miami coach Charlie Coles. "We did have a couple lulls on offense tonight, but overall, I was pleased with the effort on the road. I'd say we played well for 25 to 28 minutes. We got a big lift from Larry Drake and Eugene Seals."

The RedHawks (10-11, 6-4 Mid-American), who have won four of their past five games, forced 17 Eagle turnovers, while committing only seven themselves. Eastern held a slim 28-27 advantage in rebounds but shot only 34.2 percent. It was the first time this season that Miami won a game while getting outrebounded. Miami is now 1-8 when that occurs.

Ensminger and Alex Shorts each had seven rebounds while Matt Jameson had five assists, one less than the Eagles' total. Shorts, who scored 11 of the RedHawks' first 18 points, finished with 15.

"Mike played really well, especially in the second half," said Coles. "Eastern did a nice job on fronting Jason (Grunkemeyer), but when we made the extra pass, Mike was there to make the play."

Melvin Hicks scored 16 points for Eastern before fouling out. C.J. Grantham added 12 points and Ryan Prillman had 10 points and four blocked shots for the Eagles, who hit 19-of-22 free throws but were just 3-of-14 from 3-point range.

Miami shoots for the .500 mark this Saturday, entertaining Bowling Green, a 77-61 winner over Western Michigan, at noon.