Box Score Feb. 24, 2018
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AKRON, Ohio -- Trailing by as many as 17 points, the Miami University basketball team rebounded from significant first half shooting woes to come from behind to defeat Akron, 64-62, in overtime. The RedHawks improve to 15-14 overall and 8-8 in the Mid-American Conference. The Zips fall to 12-16 overall and 5-11 in the MAC.
Senior forward Logan McLane led the comeback with a season-high 23 points. He scored 21 of those in the second half and overtime. Freshman guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands finished with 11 points. He had a key run during the extra session, scoring six points in a row to tie the score after the `Hawks had fallen into a six-point hole.
"After the slow start we were able to settle in during the second half," said head coach Jack Owens. "I challenged the seniors at halftime. It was great how Logan out of the break, plus Rod did some things that did not show up in the stat sheet. I was pleased with how our team continued to respond despite the early struggles."
It was an extremely slow start offensively for Miami to begin the contest. A pair of free throws from freshman guard Nike Sibande and a layup from sophomore forward Bam Bowman were the only points it would score over the first eight and a half minutes of the game. Coleman-Lands drained a three-pointer, while McLane hit a layup to pull the team to within 11 at 20-9 at the 9:03 mark, but it would be over seven minutes before the RedHawks hit another field goal.
During that time, a 9-3 run by the Zips gave them their largest lead at 29-12 at the 3:13 mark. Redshirt freshman forward Precious Ayah hit a pair of free throws, and freshman guard Jalen Adaway drained a three-pointer to help get Miami within 31-17 at the halftime break.
The RedHawks shot 16.7 percent (4-for-24) from the field during the first half and had 10 turnovers. Despite the Zips hitting 52.3 percent (12-for-23) of its shots, Miami was able to keep within striking distance by forcing 10 Akron turnovers in the period.
Bowman and Adaway had layups, but the `Hawks still found themselves down 13, 34-21 with 16:59 remaining. At that point McLane began to take over scoring five straight points to get the lead under single digits. Miami went cold again, allowing Akron to go on a 6-0 run to build the lead back to 14 at 40-26 at the 12:12 mark.
Trailing 44-30 with 9:56 to go, the `Hawks went on a remarkable 13-0 run. It began with a layup from senior forward Rod Mills Jr. A pair of free throws from McLane and back-to-back three-pointers from McLane and freshman forward Dalonte Brown made it 44-36. McLane had a layup and followed it up with an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 44-41. He then dunked a three-point miss to make it 44-43 with 4:32 to go.
The Zips answered with five straight points to make it 49-43 and force a Miami timeout at the 3:39 mark. Layups from Coleman-Lands and Adaway in between an Akron free throw made it a three-point deficit at 50-47 with 40 seconds to go. On the Zips next possession, freshman forward Nike Sibande got the steal and found McLane for the dunk that made it 50-49 at the 16 second mark. The RedHawks fouled, with Akron converting on one free throw. On its last possession, Miami missed a three-pointer, but junior guard Darrian Ringo collected the rebound and put it in with 2.9 seconds remaining to tie the score at 51. The Zips half-court shot was long as the game headed to overtime.
The offensive struggles began again for the RedHawks to begin the extra session. Akron took advantage, scoring the first six points to take a 57-51 lead with 3:17 to go. This time the slump would not last as Coleman-Lands drove for the layup and converted on the free throw to pull MU within three. After a Zip miss, Ringo found Coleman-Lands for the triple and just like that the game was tied at 57 at the 2:29 mark.
After a pair of empty possessions, a layup from Ringo gave Miami its first lead of the game at 59-57 with 1:22 remaining in overtime. Ringo added two free throws to give the `Hawks a four-point cushion. Akron kept fighting as it got its own old-fashioned three-point play to make it 61-60 with 36 seconds to go. Coleman-Lands then hit McLane on a deep pass for a layup to get it back to three before a pair of Zip free throws made it 63-62 at the 29 second mark. Akron fouled on Miami's next possession and Mills converted one free throw to make it 64-62 with 20 seconds to go. The Zips got off a three-pointer in their final possession but it was well short, allowing the RedHawks to finish the comeback.
Miami finished the game 22-for-64 (34.4 percent) from the field, while Akron was 21-for-57 (36.8 percent). Adaway had seven points for the RedHawks, while Ringo finished with six points, four assists and four steals. Freshman guard Nike Sibande also had four assists and four steals for Miami. The Zips held a slight 41-40 rebounding advantage and were led by Daniel Utomi with 24 points.
The RedHawks have their final road game of the regular season when they travel to Kent State Tuesday. Tip time is 7 p.m. and it will air live on ESPN3.
