The Miami University men's basketball team turned in a stellar first half defensive effort and clutch shooting down the stretch to pick up a crucial 77-74 Mid-American Conference win over Kent State on Tuesday evening at Millett Hall. Miami improves to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in MAC play while Kent State falls to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Miami led by as many as 17 points early in the second half, but had to outscore the Flashes 6-2 in the final 1:20 to pick up its first conference win of the season. With the score tied at 71 apiece,
Nike Sibande got free for a layup and the RedHawks made four free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Sibande led all scorers with 25 points and added 10 rebounds. The 25 points for Sibande were his most since posting 28 versus Evansville on Dec. 7. Sibande was joined by
Bam Bowman (11),
Dae Dae Grant (11) and
Isaiah Coleman-Lands (11) in double figures.
Myja White chipped in with eight points.
The RedHawks were 23-of-46 from the field and 8-of-18 from behind the arc.
Miami opened the game with a 9-3 run, forcing an early Kent State timeout at the 15:58 mark. While four different RedHawks scored in the first four minutes of the contest, the Red and White's defense was the difference early, holding the high-powered Golden Flash offense to just one field goal in the first 6:30 of the game.
Miami's stellar defense continued as the RedHawks stretched its lead to 22-12 with 6:31 left in the half. As Miami's defense shut down the Golden Flashes, Grant continued his hot first-half shooting, including a pull up three-pointer to ignite the crowd.
The RedHawks maintained their 10-point margin as Sibande hit a jumper at the buzzer to send the two teams to the locker room with MU leading 31-21.
Defense continued to lead the way to start the second half as the RedHawks forced back-to-back turnovers in the first minute of the half, helping to extend their lead to 38-21.
Miami maintained a 16-point advantage, 49-33, before Kent State hit three-straight triples in less than 90 seconds, cutting the RedHawks' lead to 49-42 with 11:53 to play.
The Golden Flashes' run continued following the media timeout, shrinking Miami's lead to just 54-53 with 7:58 to play, but a triple from Coleman-Lands and a pair of free throws from Sibande pushed Miami's lead to 59-53 with 6:27 to play.
Kent State would not go away and eventually took its first lead of the game at 62-61 with 4:21 remaining.
With the game tied at 68, Sibande drained a deep three pointer, but the Flashes added a triple of their own just seconds later to knot the score at 71-71 with 1:20 to go.
Sibande got free for a layup with 59 seconds remaining and following a defensive stop, Bowman was fouled and made a free throw to extend MU's lead to 74-71 with 41 seconds left.
Following a Kent State missed triple, Sibande made 1-of-2 free throws and the Golden Flashes converted on a three-point play, giving Miami a 75-74 advantage with 12.5 seconds to play.
On the ensuing possession Miami threw the ball away, but an offensive foul on KSU gave Miami the ball back with 8.6 seconds remaining.
Mekhi Lairy drained a pair of free throws and KSU's buzzer beater was off the mark to give Miami the victory.
Miami returns to action on Saturday at Ball State. Opening tip is slated for 1 p.m.
