Feb. 27, 2010
Box Score
KENT, Ohio - Sophomore forward Julian Mavunga tallied 17 points and eight rebounds and senior guard Kenny Hayes notched 15 points but the Miami University men's basketball team dropped a 66-58 decision at Kent State Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center.
The RedHawks (12-17, 8-7 Mid-American Conference) overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 41 with 14 minutes to play, but the Golden Flashes (22-8, 12-3 MAC) took control over the final minutes to secure the league win.
Miami kept it close in the opening 10 minutes of the first half and took its first lead at 10:23 off a freshman guard Allen Roberts 3-pointer to give the RedHawks a 13-10 advantage. The Golden Flashes went on a 10-2 run to capture a 22-15 advantage by the 6:50 mark.
Miami was able to close within three, 22-19, with 5:57 remaining in the half off a pair of free throws by junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard and another set of charity tosses from Hayes, but Kent State was able to push its lead to 10 points with 1:08 left, 35-25. Mavunga sunk one of two free-throw attempts with 34 seconds remaining to cut the Miami deficit to nine points going into the half, 35-26.
The RedHawks started the second half scoring six unanswered points off a Ballard tip-in, a 3-pointer by junior forward Nick Winbush and a free throw from Mavunga to close within three, 35-32, by the 17:30 mark. Miami continued to chisel away at the Golden Flash lead and knotted the game off a Mavunga trey with 14:00 remaining, 41-41. KSU scored six straight points and took a 47-41 lead at the 11:58 mark. Neither team scored until Frank Henry-Ala tossed in a layup with 7:08 left to put the Golden Flashes up eight, 49-41.
Mavunga's layup at 6:34 gave Miami their first points since the 14-minute mark. Miami got as close as four points twice over the final minutes of the game, the last coming off a pair of Roberts free throws with 4:27 left, 52-47, but Kent State went on to capture the 66-58 win.
In addition to Mavunga and Hayes, Winbush also scored in double figures for the RedHawks with 13 points and also tallied eight rebounds.
Justin Greene paced the Golden Flashes with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead all players.
Miami returns home to conclude the regular season, hosting Buffalo at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 1. Miami will honor its three seniors--Hayes, center Adam Fletcher and guard/forward Michael Aluise--prior to Thursday's game.
