Dec. 1, 2005
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio--Behind a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double by junior forward Nathan Peavy--his third double-double in as many games--and a 12-point, nine-rebound effort from sophomore forward Tim Pollitz, Miami University's men's basketball team outlasted Wright State on Wednesday evening, 54-46.
It was the second-straight win for the RedHawks, who improve 2-1 overall, and the 16th consecutive regular-season home win for Miami. Wright State drops to 0-4 on the season.
In the first half, a layup by junior guard Doug Penno at the 11:22 mark put the RedHawks at a 10-7 advantage, but the Raiders used a 9-0 run off a balanced scoring effort to capture a 16-10 lead by the 5:36 mark. Miami was able to cut the gap to one twice, the last coming with two minutes remaining off a Peavy layup to put make the score 20-19 in favor of the Raiders, but a jumper by WSU's DaShaun Wood at the 1:39 mark put the Raiders up 22-19, which would be the score at the half.
Miami started the second half on a 7-0 run off a jumper by Tim Pollitz, a pair of senior center Nate VanderSluis free throws and a Penno 3-pointer to put the RedHawks up four with 16:53 remaining, 26-22. Wright State was able to connect on two sets of free throws, but did not hit its first field goal of the half until Scottie Wilson tossed in a layup at 12:20 to knot the game, 28-28. Pollitz chipped in five points off two layups and a free throw during an 8-0 Miami flurry, which made the score 36-28 with 9:48 left. A senior guard William Hatcher free throw at the 6:28 mark extended the Miami lead to 10 points, 43-33. Wright State would close within three off a Wood layup with 2:08 remaining, but again Miami would push its lead to 10 points off a Hatcher layup with 11 seconds remaining. Wood tossed in the final bucket of the game to make the final tally 54-46 in favor of the RedHawks.
Wood led all players with 22 points. He scored 11-straight points for the Raiders over a six-minute stretch in the second half, which helped close the gap during the final minutes of the game.
Miami hits the road for the state of Michigan, playing its first Mid-American Conference game of the year at Central Michigan at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4 and then travels to Oakland for a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The RedHawks return home on Sunday, Dec. 11 to clash with Xavier at 2 p.m.
Notes: Tim Pollitz tied a career high with 12 points and had career highs of nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals, while playing a career-high 40 minutes ... eight of Pollitz's nine boards came in the first half ... Miami won the battle of the boards for the first time this season, out-rebounding Wright State, 35-23.
