Miami Ohio University Athletics
Miami University
Illinois State
RedHawks Fall To Illinois State, 64-40
12/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2006
NORMAL, Ill.--Despite a sharp first half in which it shot 57.1 percent from the field, a lackluster second half sunk Miami University's men's basketball team (3-5) at Illinois State (6-2) Tuesday evening as the Redbirds posted a 64-40 win.
Junior forward Tim Pollitz scored 11 of Miami's first 14 points and tallied 15 points in the first half, sinking seven of 10 shots to spur the RedHawks to a 27-25 edge at the half. Illinois State took an early 5-2 lead in the first half, but sophomore guard/forward Michael Bramos nailed a 3-pointer to spark an 8-0 Miami run which handed the RedHawks a 10-5 lead by the 13:42 mark.
Miami would continue to lead by five points off Tim Pollitz layups at the 12:02 and 11:26 marks. ISU used a 6-0 run to come back and post a 15-14 edge by the 9:11 mark. Miami would come back to lead by four points five times over the remaining minutes of the half, the last coming with 48 seconds remaining off a Tim Pollitz jumper. A Greg Dilligard layup with 34 seconds remaining, however, cut the lead to two, 27-25.
A three-point play by senior forward Nathan Peavy at the 19:21 mark of the second half gave Miami back a four-point cushion, 30-26. The Redbirds went on a 14-0 run to build a 40-30 lead by the 12:50 mark to take command for good. Illinois State continued to score points in clusters, building its lead to a game-high 24 points off an Anthony Slack jumper with 3:02 remaining, 60-36. Miami would get buckets from Tim Pollitz and redshirt freshman center Adam Fletcher over the waning minutes, but a Dominitrix Johnson trey with 1:14 remaining put the Redbird lead back to 24, 64-40.
Tim Pollitz paced the RedHawks with 17 points, while Peavy added 10 points and six rebounds and Bramos chipped in seven points and six rebounds.
ISU had two players with double-doubles: Slack (15 points; 10 rebounds) and Greg Dilligard (11 points; 10 rebounds). Boo Richardson also scored in double figures, adding 13 points.
Miami has little time to rest as it hosts Michigan on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. as part of Miami's "Beat Big Ten Week." The game will be televised on ESPNU.
