Jan. 10, 2009

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POSTGAME QUOTES -Akron at Miami
January 9, 2009
Head Coach Charlie Coles
(opening statement) "I knew it was going to be that way. When we play Akron, it's just that kind of ball game. Akron shot well against us last year up there. Usually, shots are going to be hard to come by. I know they're going to run some good offensive sets. Keith (Dambrot) probably takes advantage of his personnel as well as any coach I coach against. He does a masterful job of getting those kids good shots and getting them good shots where they need to take those shots. Hitchens is just a freshman and playing like he's playing, that's tremendous. I knew it was going to be a tough game. I don't know whether we came out a little tight or what, but we just couldn't shoot. When we got to the second half, we were a little bit better, but then we slipped up. Every time we got a lead on them, we would make a mistake, defensively. And we were just sitting over there going, `Why'? People say we played well in overtime, but we almost didn't make it to overtime. But we did, and I thought our guys loosened up and played then. But I won't complain about that victory. That's a MAC victory, an Akron victory ... so we're going to take it."

(about Julian Mavunga and Carl Richberg) "I thought Mavunga was a big difference ... big difference. He wasn't much when we threw him the ball, but when the ball hit the rim he had a lot of tip-ins. One went way up to the top and came back down. And then Richberg played really good late in the game. We needed that out of him. I think he needed that out of him."

Miami guard Julian Mavunga
"I feel like I'm adapting to the college game. I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates because they find me in open spots. They leave me with the job of going up strong and finishing to the basket." (on his big blocked shot) "I saw the rotation and knew that they were going to McKnight. Dirk (Tyler Dierkers), credit to him, he pressured the ball. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

(on being in the lineup at the end of the game) "I still know I'm a freshman out there. Coach Coles has the confidence in me. There's not a lot of freshmen across America that get to play that late in the game. It helps me build on my confidence and helps me get more comfortable out there."

Miami forward Michael Bramos
"I think we just got a boost of energy (in overtime). We were fighting back the whole game it seemed like. Los of lead changes, then we got down three at the end, but we continued to chip away. Hearing that horn and seeing a tie game just gave us a boost of energy. We knew we had five minutes to win it, and that's what we did."

Head Coach KEITH DAMBROT
(opening statement) "This was a typical Akron-Miami game. We were erratic to start the game, erratic in the second half and erratic in overtime."

(about Miami) "Their team is very similar to ours. They're going to play good defense and be in every game because they play good defense. Our team's the same way. We're not very good offensively so far, and they probably aren't either right now. It's a grind-it-out type of game. We just beat each other up defensively. That's probably as aggressive as Miami's ever played us, on the ball and ball screens. And there's a reason behind that. They've never played us that aggressively before."