Dec. 17, 2011
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Miami 66, Belmont 61 
OXFORD, Ohio--An inspired effort by the entire Miami University men's basketball team resulted in a thrilling 66-61 win over a tough Belmont team on Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall. Four RedHawks scored in double figures, led by senior forward Julian Mavunga's fifth double-double of the season and 19th of his career.
The win halted a four-game losing skid for the RedHawks, who improve to 3-5 on the season, while the Bruins drop to 7-4.
Mavunga recorded yet another double-double, totaling 17 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Jon Harris and sophomore guards Josh Sewell and Quinten Rollins all reached double figures in scoring--notching 12, 12 and 11 points, respectively--and Harris also grabbed eight boards, a career-high.
As a team, Miami looked as good as it has all season. While Mavunga played a season-low 14 minutes in the first half, the RedHawks still took a five-point lead into halftime, allowing Miami's biggest offensive threat to come into the second half well rested.
After Belmont opened up the game with a 6-0 lead, Miami rattled off nine unanswered points, sparked by a Sewell 3-pointer at 15:19 and capped by a sophomore center Drew McGhee jumper at 13:20 to give the RedHawks a 9-6 edge.
Belmont came back and grabbed the lead, 13-11, and held a 17-16 edge with 6:52 to play. Miami then went on a 12-0 charge to capture a 28-17 lead with 4:20 to play off a pair of free throws by Harris. He accounted for six of the RedHawks' points during their 12-point surge.
The Bruins outscored the RedHawks 9-3 over the remaining minutes of the half to cut the Miami advantage to five points heading into halftime, 31-26.
A Belmont jumper just over a minute into the second half shrunk the RedHawks' lead to three, but an 8-0 run from 13:50 to 9:37 in the second half pushed the Miami advantage to 13 points, 50-37. McGhee scored four of the RedHawk's points during the run.
With 5:15 to play, Belmont again closed within three points after a 6-0 run, 54-51. A Rollins jumper put the Miami lead back at five with 4:56 to play, 56-51, but a Belmont 3-pointer with 4:04 to play put the Bruins within two, 56-54.
Rollins hauled in a huge defensive rebound with 1:37 to play and sunk a big layup and was fouled with 1:03 remaining. Rollins missed the ensuing free throw, but Mavunga pulled down another huge defensive rebound and was fouled with 48 seconds remaining. Mavunga sunk both charity tosses to give Miami a 62-56 lead.
Rollins hit one of two free throws with 38 seconds left to give Miami a 63-56 lead. JJ Mann sunk a trey for Belmont with 31 seconds left to cut the Miami lead to four, 63-59.
Miami got the ball back on a jump ball under the Belmont basket as Mavunga tied up the ball to give the RedHawks the possession. He sank both free throws to give Miami a 65-59 lead. After Kerron Johnson added two free throws for Belmont, Mavunga added another freebie of his own for good measure. A last ditch effort by the Bruins to claw their way back proved unsuccessful, and the RedHawks came out on top by a score or 66-61.
Mavunga's 12 made free throws gave him 334 made free throws for his career, moving him into 10th place all-time in Miami history.
Johnson added a team-high 17 points for Belmont and also led his team in rebounds with eight. Their 61 points this afternoon was the fewest the Bruins have scored so far this season.
Miami returns to action hosting Evansville at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20.
