Dec. 3, 2008
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA--A superb team effort propelled Miami University's men's basketball team (3-3) to a 68-52 win at Temple (3-3) on Wednesday evening.
As a team, Miami amassed 18 assists and had just nine turnovers, while grabbing 10 steals. The RedHawks shot 52.1 percent from the field, including 60.9 percent in the second half, while knocking down 52.9 percent of its 3-pointers.
Senior forward Michael Bramos scored 21 second-half points en route to a game-high 26 points. Bramos drained six treys for the game, hitting five in the second half. Senior guard Kenny Hayes amassed 17 points off a 6-of-8 shooting effort from the field, while nailing 4-of-5 free throws. Hayes also dished out a career-high six assists. Senior center/forward Tyler Dierkers added 10 points and led all players with eight rebounds. Dierkers also tallied a game-most three steals.
Temple never led by more than two points, its last lead coming at 14:14 in the first half off a Dionte Christmas 3-pointer to give the Owls an 8-6 edge. Miami reclaimed the lead for good by rattling off eight-straight points. A sophomore forward Nick Winbush trey at 6:34 in the first half handed Miami a nine-point advantage, 20-11. Winbush hit a jumper at 4:02 to again push the RedHawk lead to nine points, 29-15. Temple, however, was able to close the gap to six points by the half as the RedHawks held a 28-22 edge at the intermission.
Bramos nailed back-to-back treys to open the second-half scoring and give Miami a 34-22 lead with 18:26 remaining. Temple staged a 12-2 run to close within two points, but Miami used an 11-3 flurry--collecting two points from Dierkers, four from Hayes and five from Bramos--to take a 47-37 lead by the 10:20 mark.
Temple was able to get as close as four with 7:56 remaining in the game off a Lavoy Allen 3-pointer, 47-43. But Miami continued to extend its lead over the final minutes, eventually building its biggest lead off a pair of Hayes free throws with 39 seconds left to give the RedHawks the 68-52 win.
Senior guard Eric Pollitz took on a tough defensive challenge, guarding Christmas, who entered the game averaging 24.0 ppg. Pollitz, along with Bramos and sophomore guard/forward Antonio Ballard and some solid team defense, restricted Christmas to 11 points, nine coming in the first half. It also was the first time this season Temple had scored under 70 points.
Sergio Olmos led the Owls with 12 points.
Miami returns to Oxford for its home opener at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 when the RedHawks host Northwestern State.
