Jan. 9, 2011
Final Stats
ATHENS, Ohio -- Orlando Williams hit a three-pointer with 29 seconds left in triple overtime Sunday, leading Miami University's men's basketball team to a 92-88 win over rival Ohio at the Convocation Center. The game was the Mid-American Conference opener for both teams.
Senior forward Antonio Ballard led the way for the RedHawks (6-9, 1-0) with a double-double of 26 points and 12 rebounds. He hit eight of nine free throws, including a pair with 10 seconds remaining that sealed the victory. It was his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career and his 26 points were a career high. Five of Ballard's 12 boards were on the offensive glass.
Senior forward Nick Winbush added 19 points and nine boards, while junior forward Julian Mavunga chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Chris McHenry also reached double figures with 11 points and tallied four assists, while freshman guard Quinten Rollins hauled in a career-high seven rebounds.
D.J. Cooper led all players with 27 points and 11 assists.
Miami quickly built a seven-point lead by the 15:06 mark of the first half, 9-2, off a pair of buckets by Ballard, a trey from Williams and a layup by Mavunga. The Bobcats closed to within one over the next minute and a half, but a Rollins layup and a Ballard 3-pointer pushed the lead to six points with 11:08 to play, 14-8.
Ohio went on a 7-0 run to capture the lead and eventually built a seven-point cushion with 2:54 to play in the opening half. Back-to-back treys from McHenry and Ballard put Miami within one with 1:35 remaining, 29-28. Ohio extended its lead to three points off a pair of Ivo Baltic free throws, but McHenry drained a trey with 13 seconds left in the opening half to knot the score 33-33.
Miami again jumped out early in the second half, building an eight-point lead off a pair of Ballard free throws with 14:48 to play, 47-39. Ohio used an 8-1 run to cut the Miami lead to one point with 12:30 to play in regulation, 48-47. A three from McHenry and then from Winbush helped extend the RedHawks' lead to five points by the 10:51 mark, 54-49.
Ohio led by four points with 7:48 to play, 58-54. Miami came back to knot the game twice over the next two and a half minutes and took a 3-point lead with 4:27 to play off a Winbush trey, 63-60. T.J. Hall hit a 3-pointer for Ohio to tie the game with 2:01 to play. Mavunga powered in a layup with 1:27 left in regulation to put the RedHawks up two, 65-63. Cooper knotted the game at 65 off a pair of free throws with 49 seconds to play. A Miami turnover with 39 seconds left and then an Ohio turnover with eight seconds remaining added to the dramatics of the game. Miami had the ball but missed a 3-pointer as time expired to send the game to overtime.
Ohio opened the first overtime with a three-point play to take the first lead. Ballard sunk a pair of free throws and then Winbush tossed in a trio of free throws to put the RedHawks up two with 2:23 left. After Ohio tied the game again, Mavunga sunk one of two free-throw attempts and Rollins drove in and collected a layup to put Miami up three with 1:28 left. Cooper sunk a trey for the Bobcats with 39 seconds left to tie the game for the 13th time. Miami again had the ball with a chance to win but missed a 3-pointer with four seconds left and the game went to a second overtime.
Miami was able to take a 3-point lead midway through the second overtime off a Winbush 3-pointer with 2:29 to play, 79-76. Ohio got a three-point play from Baltic to tie the game, 79-79, with1:46 left. Neither team was able to score over the final minutes and the game went to a third overtime.
Miami never trailed in the third overtime. Free throws from sophomore guard Allen Roberts and Williams put the `Hawks up 83-30 with 3:37 left. Another pair of Roberts free throws again put the RedHawks up three, 85-82. The Bobcats knotted the game for the 16th time off an Asown Sayles free throw and a Baltic jumper, 85-85, with 53 seconds to play.
Williams sunk a critical 3-pointer with 29 seconds left and Ballard sunk a pair of free throws to put Miami up five points, 90-85, with 10 seconds left. Nick Kellogg sunk a 3-pointer for the Bobcats to put Ohio within three. Mavunga was fouled with three seconds left but missed both free-throw attempts. However, Mavunga grabbed his own rebound and was fouled again and hit both of his free throws to post a 92-88 lead and captured the win.
The contest marked the fourth time in Miami history that a game went into triple overtime, including a 91-86 win at Ohio on Jan. 25, 1992. Miami's last triple overtime game was in Millett Hall on Jan. 12, 2000 against Ball State with the RedHawks triumphing, 86-84. The RedHawks are now 3-1 in such contests.
Mavunga and Ballard each played a career-high 55 minutes to lead all players. Williams also played a career high for minutes with 46.
The 92 points are the most Miami has scored since 99-94 double-overtime loss at Valparaiso on Feb. 23, 2008.
After a three-game road stretch, Miami returns home to host Buffalo at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 13.
