Feb. 14, 2009
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
HALL OF FAME GALLERY
MIAMI VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN PHOTO GALLERY
OXFORD, Ohio -- Miami held Western Michigan to 26.7 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers, enroute to a convincing 64-46 victory over the Broncos Saturday night. Tyler Dierkers scored 13 points, grabbed six rebounds and made four steals for the RedHawks.
Michael Bramos added 12 points, despite hitting just three of 13 field goal attempts, while Antonio Ballard added 11 points. Adam Fletcher was the leading rebounder with eight caroms.
Miami (15-8, 8-3) led by just a single point at halftime, 23-22, but exploded for 41 points in the second period. Meanwhile, the Broncos made only four field goals over the final 20 minutes, shooting 21.1 percent.
The RedHawks led 9-4 in the first seven minutes, but Western Michigan (8-16, 5-6) scored 10 straight points to open their biggest lead, 14-9 with 9:11 left in the period. The lead was five again, 20-15, when Miami went on a run. It outscored the Broncos 8-2 over the final 5:16 to retake the lead, then rattled off a 22-9 run over the first 13-plus minutes of the second to make the score opened the second period on a 22-9 run that made the score 45-31. Western never closed to within 12 after than and saw Miami up by as many as 21 in the final minute.
Western Michigan was led by Andre Ricks with nine points, while three others added eight points. Included in the group was David Kool, who entered the game as the MAC's third-leading scorer, but missed all 11 field goal attempts.
Miami now hits the road for three straight games -- at Akron, Evansville and Ohio. The trip begins Wednesday night when the RedHawks and Zips battle for second place in the MAC East.
