EVANSVILLE, Ind.--Despite a 70-percent shooting effort in the first half by Miami University's men's basketball team, a 22-4 run by Evansville in the second half gave the Purple Aces a 13-point lead with just over five minutes to play, and they would go on to a 75-61 win on Saturday afternoon in an ESPNU BracketBuster game.
Miami (15-10) jumped out of the gates in the opening stanza, building a 15-point lead by the 10:07 mark, 23-8. Senior guard Eric Pollitz and senior forward Michael Bramos had six points apiece for the RedHawks during the opening run. Evansville (16-11) went without a field goal for the first five minutes of the game. The Purple Aces chiseled away at the RedHawk lead, closing to within two points with 42 seconds remaining in the half, but a senior guard Carl Richburg trey with 27 seconds left gave the RedHawks a five-point cushion going into the half, 40-35.
Miami shot a scorching 70.8 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while Evansville also shot an impressive 61.1 percent for the half. Bramos scored 17 points off 8-of-9 shooting in the first half but would be held scoreless over the remainder of the game, going 0-for-3 over the final 20 minutes.
After Evansville pulled within one point, 42-41, off a Kaylon Williams layup, Miami pushed its lead to six points off a pair of sophomore guard/forward Antonio Ballard buckets and a junior center Adam Fletcher free throw. Miami held a 49-44 lead off a jumper by senior forward Tyler Dierkers with 15:12 remaining, but Evansville staged its 22-4 run over the next 10 minutes to capture the game.
Bramos was the lone RedHawk to score in double figures. Dierkers and Fletcher led Miami on the boards with six apiece.
Evansville's Shy Ely led all players with 21 points and Jason Holsinger followed with 20 points. James Haarsma was the other Purple Ace to score in double figures with 10 points. Kaylon Williams added game highs of seven rebounds and seven assists.
Miami plays its fifth road game in six outings when it travels to Ohio for a 7 p.m. game on February 26.
