Feb. 19, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes
OXFORD, Ohio--Quade Milum had a put-back dunk with 36 seconds to play to put Akron up for good and Cedrick Middleton knocked down a pair of insurance free throws with one second remaining to give Akron a 56-52 win against Miami University's men's basketball team at Millett Hall on Tuesday evening.
Senior forward Tim Pollitz powered in a layup with 21 seconds remaining to even the score but was called for the offensive charge and the basket waved off. A quick foul by the RedHawks sent Nate Linhart to the line with 17 seconds to play. Linhart missed the front end of the one-and-one and a junior center Tyler Dierkers hauled in a crucial defensive rebound to give the RedHawks a chance to knot the game.
Junior guard Kenny Hayes shot a jumper with six seconds remaining, but Akron's Mike Bardo was credited with a block on the play with Chris McKnight picking up the defensive rebound for the Zips to help preserve the win.
The win was Akron's first at Millett Hall since Jan. 24, 2001, snapping a seven-game home win streak for Miami in the all-time series with the Zips. The win improved Akron to 19-7 overall and 9-4 in Mid-American Conference play, while dropping the RedHawks to 13-12 overall and 7-6 in MAC action.
Miami battled back from a four-point deficit with 3:04 to play in the first half to tie the game 27-27, which would be the halftime score. Dierkers sunk a pair of free throws and Tim Pollitz slipped in the lane to toss in a layup with 40 seconds left to comprise a 4-0 RedHawk run to end the half.
Akron led by as many as six in the second half, including a 44-38 lead with 9:34 to play off a Middleton 3-pointer. Miami used a 9-1 run over the next three minutes to capture its first lead of the game since a 10-7 advantage at the 14:22 mark of the first half. Junior forward Michael Bramos knocked down a long two-point field goal to give the RedHawks the 47-45 edge with 6:22 to play.
A Bramos layup at 2:31 evened the score, 52-52, before the final 36-second flurry.
Tim Pollitz led the RedHawks with 18 points and led all players with seven rebounds. Hayes added 13 points, his 12th straight double-figure scoring effort, while Dierkers dished out four assists. Bramos accounted for all two of Miami's blocked shots, which came on Akron's first two field goal attempts of the game.
Middleton paced the Zips with 18 points, while Chris McKnighted chipped in 10 points and a team-best six rebounds.
Miami takes a brief break from Mid-American Conference play when it travels to Valparaiso for a 6 p.m. (ET) game on Saturday, Feb. 23 as part of the ESPNU O'Reilly BracketBuster. The game will be televised on ESPN Classic.
