Feb. 4, 2010
Final Stats
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Senior guard Kenny Hayes nailed a deep jumper with less than a second remaining to give the Miami University men's basketball team a gritty 56-54 victory over Western Michigan Thursday night at University Arena, giving the RedHawks their first true road win of the season. Miami (9-13, 6-3 Mid-American Conference) has now won three straight games for the first time all year and picked up its first victory at Western Michigan (12-10, 4-5 MAC) since 1999.
Junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard recorded his second double-double of the season, chipping in 10 points and corralling 10 rebounds, while Hayes finished with a team-high 16 points, including his game-winner, and handed out five assists. Sophomore forward Julian Mavunga added 14 points for Miami and grabbed seven boards while playing the entire game.
Miami took an early 4-0 lead in the first half off a Mavunga free throw and a 3-pointer by freshman guard Allen Roberts, but Western Michigan went on an 8-0 run to take a lead it would hold until the 10:14 mark of the second half. The Broncos led by as many as seven points in the first half, posting an 18-11 lead with 8:36 to go off a pair of Martelle McLemore free throws, 21-14 with 6:21 left off a David Kool layup and 29-22 with 1:37 remaining in the half off a McLemore 3-pointer. Ballard tossed in a layup as time expired in the half to put the RedHawks within five points going into the lockerroom, 29-24.
Hayes knocked down a jumper then stole the ball and tossed in a layup just seconds into the second half to further shrink the RedHawk deficit to one point, 29-28, but Western Michigan quickly pushed its lead back to seven points with a 6-0 run, posting a 35-38 lead with 17:19 remaining. Miami retaliated with a 7-0 surge to knot the game, 35-35 with 14 minutes left. Roberts knocked down a pair of free throws, Hayes added a jumper and junior guard Rodney Haddix II drained a trey during the RedHawk rally. Another Haddix 3-pointer knotted the game 40-40 with 11:06 to play and a pair of Mavunga free-throws gave Miami its first lead of the game since the opening minutes, 42-40, with 10:14 remaining.
Neither team scored for three minutes until a McLemore dunk tied the game 42-42 at the 7:14 mark. Two more free throws from Mavunga and two from Haddix gave Miami a four-point lead with 6:28 to play, 46-42. The RedHawks extended their lead to six points off a Ballard layup with 4:26 remaining, 50-42. The Broncos chiseled away at the RedHawk advantage and took a two-point lead with 1:20 to play off a Kool jumper. Ballard knocked down a pair of crucial free throws with 1:01 to play to tie the game 54-54. Roberts came up with a big defensive rebound with under 35 seconds remaining allowing Miami to have the last shot. Hayes hit the go-ahead jumper from the top of the key that was deemed a two-point bucket with 0.8 seconds remaining, giving Miami the 56-54 win.
Kool paced the Broncos with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while McLemore added 17 points.
Miami amassed eight blocked shots as a team, which ties for the most this season and ties for the sixth-most on the single-game charts. Ballard and Mavunga were credited with two blocked shots apiece. Miami was without the services of senior center Adam Fletcher, who was sidelined with an injured left quadriceps.
Miami continues a two-game road stretch, heading to DeKalb, Ill., to face Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, Feb. 6.
