OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team made a spirited comeback to close to within three points in the final minute of their season opener against Wright State, but they were unable to finish it off as the Raiders took an 88-81 victory Saturday afternoon. The RedHawks fall to 0-1 on the year, while Wright State is 2-0.
Junior guard
Nike Sibande and sophomore guard
Mekhi Lairy led a solid Miami attack that shot 46.2 percent (30-for-65) from the floor and 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from behind the arc. Sibande had a team-high 24 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Lairy scored a career-high 21 points, including 10 straight in the second half during the 'Hawks comeback run.
Rebounding and Wright State's Loudon Love proved to be the difference on Saturday. The Raiders held a 50-34 rebounding advantage and brought in 19 offensive boards. Love was a load inside, finishing with 27 points and 16 rebounds, including nine offensive.
The game started off with a bang as junior forward
Dalonte Brown found Sibande for an alleyoop dunk on the first play. A pair of shots in the paint by senior forward
Bam Bowman helped increase the RedHawks' early lead. A couple of Sibande layups, along with a fast-break, old fashioned three-point play put Miami on top, 17-9 with 14:50 to go in the first half.
An 11-2 run by Wright State gave it the lead for the first time at 20-19 at the 11:32 mark. The lead was short lived as redshirt sophomore guard
Isaiah Coleman-Lands drilled a three to put the RedHawks in front once again. The Raiders answered with an 8-1 spurt before a triple from Brown cut the deficit to 28-26 with 7:46 to go.
Wright State led by as many as seven before a three-pointer from Lairy, a layup from Brown and a pair of free throws from redshirt junior forward
Precious Ayah pulled Miami to within one at 36-35 at the 3:53 mark. A late 13-2 run by the Raiders put the lead in double digits before redshirt junior guard
Milos Jovic drained a three at the buzzer to send the RedHawks into the break down nine at 49-40.
Miami's shot was not falling during the first part of the second half. The RedHawks' defense held tough however, keeping WSU from pulling away during that stretch. The Raiders achieved their biggest lead of 15 at 72-57 with 9:39 to go.
After Sibande hit a pair of free throws, Lairy scored the next 10 points as part of a 12-2 run the cut the deficit to five at 74-69 with 6:13 remaining. Wright State pushed the advantage back to nine, but a Jovic three made it 78-72. Trailing 80-72, a free throw and triple by Sibande made it 80-76 with 1:40 to go. The Raiders scored next, but Coleman-Lands hit a three-pointer of his own to make it a one-possession game at 82-79 at the 44 second mark. That would be as close as the RedHawks could get as Wright State hit free throws down the stretch and eventually finished off an 88-81 victory.
Brown finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Coleman-Lands had 10. Miami had eight blocks on the day, with Bowman, Sibande and sophomore forward
Elijah McNamara each recorded two.
The RedHawks return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Purdue Fort Wayne. Tip time is at 7 p.m. and it will air live on the Mastodons' YouTube Channel.
