March 12, 2010
Box Score
CLEVELAND - A tough shooting night for Miami resulted in a 54-42 loss to Ohio Friday night in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals. Kenny Hayes led Miami with 12 points. The RedHawks finish the season at 14-18 while the Bobcats improve to 20-14 and will take on Akron in the MAC Championship game Saturday night.
After Ohio opened the first half with a bucket, Hayes responded with a layup. The Bobcats then held the RedHawks without a point for the next nine minutes as part of a 10-0 run to go ahead 12-2. A Nick Winbush jumper and a Hayes three-pointer cut it to 12-7, but Ohio went on another 9-0 run to take a 21-7 advantage with 2:07 remaining.
Miami would hold the Bobcats without another basket for the remainder of the period. Meanwhile, Antonio Ballard would steal the basketball and find Rodney Haddix for an easy layup. A minute later he nailed a three-pointer as the RedHawks went into the break trailing, 21-12.
Ohio eventually expanded the lead to 46-26 in the second half before Miami began to mount a comeback. Kramer Soderberg hit back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to 14. Layups from Winbush, Hayes and Adam Fletcher made it a 14-2 run as the RedHawks were down 48-40 with 45 seconds remaining. However, the comeback was not to be as the Bobcats hit their free throws down the stretch to complete the 54-42 win.
In addition to Hayes' 12 points, Ballard and Soderberg scored eight apiece. Miami outrebounded Ohio, 32-28.
The loss drops the RedHawks to 11-7 all-time in MAC Semifinal games.
