RedHawks Earn Road Win Over Purdue Fort Wayne

Wednesday, November 13

Fort Wayne, Ind.

7:00 p.m. ET

Miami University

1-1,0-0MAC

Purdue Fort Wayne

1-3,0-0Summit League

Miami (OH)

Purdue Fort Wayne

RedHawks Earn Road Win Over Purdue Fort Wayne

11/13/2019 10:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Miami 84 Purdue Fort Wayne 80 (PDF)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Miami University men's basketball team exploded for 52 second half points as it earned its first victory of the season, 84-80, over Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday evening. The RedHawks are now 1-1, while the Mastodons fall to 1-3.

Junior guard Nike Sibande led four in double figures for Miami with 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Junior forward Dalonte Brown was right behind him with 17 points.

Sophomore guard Mekhi Lairy had a career-high eight assists. One of his main targets was redshirt junior forward Precious Ayah down low. He finished with a career-high 12 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.

Jumpers from Sibande and freshman guard Dae Dae Grant, along with a triple from redshirt junior guard Milos Jovic saw Miami quickly jump to a 7-2 lead. Purdue Fort Wayne went on a 10-2 run before Lairy found Ayah down low for the layup that cut the deficit to 12-11 with 12:47 remaining in the half.

The first career basket from freshman forward Javin Etzler put the RedHawks back on top. It started a 7-0 run that gave Miami an 18-12 advantage with 10:21 to go. Miami's offense went cold over the next five minutes allowing the Mastodons to go on a 16-4 spurt that put them in front, 28-22, at the 5:30 mark.

A triple from Sibande and a layup by Ayah got the RedHawk offense back on track. The Mastodons pushed the lead back to five before Lairy found Ayah for another layup and Etzler drained a three to tie the score at 32. PFW hit a three-pointer with 30 seconds to go to take a 35-32 lead into the break.

The second half started at a frenetic pace. Sibande drained a jumper on the first play. That was immediately followed by a steal and pass ahead to Sibande for a fast break windmill jam. Brown had two more fast break layups, while Sibande had another as part of a 10-2 run that made it 42-37 and forced a quick Mastodon timeout with 17:50 to go.

Leading 46-44, two triples from redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands and one from Brown helped Miami extend the lead to 57-50 at the 13:18 mark. Purdue Fort Wayne got it as close as three at 59-56, but a bucket from sophomore forward Elijah McNamara and another pass from Lairy to Ayah got it to 65-59 with 7:28 to go.

The Mastodons cut the deficit to three at 67-64 before a 11-3 run over the next three minutes gave Miami a 78-67 advantage with 2:55 remaining. Purdue Fort Wayne hit a couple of three pointers to get as close as four points at 80-76, but the RedHawks hit their free throws to secure the 84-80 win.

Coleman-Lands joined the Miami scores in double figures with 11. The RedHawks shot 31-for-64 (48.4 percent), including 17-for-29 (58.6 percent) in the second half. The teams tied the rebounding battle at 30. Purdue Fort Wayne was led by Brian Patrick with 23 points.

Miami returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Alabama A&M for its Celebrating Miami: Tribe and University game. Miami Athletics is proud of the partnership with the Myaamia Center, in conjunction with the relationship between Miami University and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. To learn more click HERE.