Jan. 11, 2007
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio--A frantic last minute and a half of play, which saw Miami University's men's basketball team erase a seven-point deficit, capped an exciting back and forth game. However, a layup by Akron senior guard Dru Joyce with one second to play gave the Zips a 54-52 win at James A. Rhodes Arena on Thursday evening. Akron moved to 10-4 on the season and 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play, while the RedHawks dropped to 5-9 overall and 1-1 in league action.
Trailing seven points, junior forward Tim Pollitz finessed in a layups with 1:28 and 33 seconds remaining to put the RedHawks within three, 52-49. With Akron in-bounding the ball under Miami's bucket, senior guard Doug Penno came up with a key steal on the in-bounds pass. After grabbing the offensive rebound off his own missed layup, Penno kicked the ball out to sophomore guard Carl Richburg, who knocked down the 3-point shot with 23 seconds to play to knot the game, 52-52. Miami's run, however, was thwarted by Joyce's layup with one second remaining to cinch the game for the Zips.
Tim Pollitz led all players with 16 points off a 7-of-11 shooting effort. Sophomore guard/forward Michael Bramos added 15 points for the RedHawks.
Romeo Travis paced the Zips with 12 points and a game-best seven rebounds, while Joyce added 10 points.
The first nine minutes of play saw the teams tied five times before Akron took an 18-13 lead at the 8:33 mark off a Cedrick Middleton 3-pointer. Senior forward Nathan Peavy hit one of two free throws, while Penno drilled a trey with 6:40 remaining in the first half and Tim Pollitz tossed in a layup with 5:41 left in the half to hand Miami the 19-18 advantage. Again the teams would go back and forth and ended the first 20 minutes of play deadlocked, 23-23.
Akron took a quick six-point lead, 29-23, by the 18:35 mark of the second half off a Jeremiah Wood layup. Miami clawed its way back to take a three-point advantage, 34-31, by the 14:24 mark off a Bramos 3-pointer. A pair of sophomore forward/center Tyler Dierkers free throws with 10:31 to play handed Miami its largest advantage of the game, 41-37. Akron went on a 15-4 run over the next 8:41 to post a 52-45 advantage and its largest lead of the game with 1:50 to play. Despite the valiant comeback by the RedHawks to knot the game over the final minute and a half of the game, the loss was Miami's fourth this season by two points or less.
Miami continues a two-game road stretch at Buffalo, facing the Bulls at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14.
