Feb. 14, 2007
Box Score
KENT, Ohio--Kent State University opened the game on an 11-0 run and never looked back as the Golden Flashes posted a 61-45 win over Miami University's men's basketball team on Wednesday evening at the M.A.C Center.
Miami dropped to 12-12 overall and 8-4 in league action, while Kent State improved to 16-9 overall and 9-3 in Mid-American Conference play.
A jumper by senior forward Nathan Peavy at the 13:51 mark of the first half ended the Golden Flashes' opening run. The RedHawks would get as close as seven points off a junior forward Tim Pollitz layup with 13:29 remaining in the half, 11-4, and off a Peavy dunk at the 11:45 mark, 13-6.
Kent State would push its lead back to 11 points four times before sophomore guard/forward Michael Bramos knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining in the half to put the RedHawks within eight points, 24-16. Kent State, however, would round out the half on a 4-0 run off a jumper by Haminn Quaintance and a layup by Omni Smith to give the Golden Flashes a 28-16 lead.
KSU's Chris Singletary tossed in a layup to open the second half and hand the Golden Flashes a 30-16 lead. The RedHawks rattled off five unanswered points off a Tim Pollitz layup and a Monty St. Clair three-point play to put the RedHawks back within nine points, 30-21, by the 17:40 mark. Miami would close within nine points three more times, the last coming off a Peavy layup with 11:25 to play to make the score 39-30, but Kent State went on a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 17 points by the 8:26 mark, 49-32.
Omni Smith nailed a 3-pointer with 6:30 remaining to put the Golden Flashes up 19 points, 54-35, and Rodriquez Sherman tossed in a layup with 1:29 left to play to give KSU its largest lead of the game, 61-41. Sophomore forward Tyler Dierkers and freshman forward/guard Antonio Ballard each scored off layups in the final 38 seconds to make the final score 61-45 in favor of the Golden Flashes.
Tim Pollitz was the only RedHawk to score in double figures with 14 points. Smith led all scorers with 17 points, while Armon Gates added 13 points.
The RedHawks play their final regular-season non-conference tilt as part of the O'Reilly ESPNU Bracket Buster, traveling to Indiana State at 2:05 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 17.
