BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team came out on fire, scoring 42 points in the first 13-plus minutes at Bowling Green on Tuesday. Despite turning up the defense after that, the RedHawks could not sustain the offensive pace late as the Falcons escaped with a 78-76 victory. Miami is now 7-8 overall and 0-2 in the Mid-American Conference. Bowling Green is 10-5 overall and 1-1 in the MAC.
Playing in front of friends and family, Toledo native
Dalonte Brown led the RedHawk offense with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard
Dae Dae Grant scored 11 for Miami.
It was a shootout right out of the gate as Brown drained a three-pointer on Miami's first possession. Grant followed with a triple of his own, while an old-fashioned three-point play by junior guard
Nike Sibande put the RedHawks in front, 11-7, at the 15:44 mark. Despite another three from Brown, Bowling Green went on a 9-3 run to take a 16-14 advantage.
A long-distance shot by sophomore guard Mekhi Lairy gave Miami the lead right back. The teams went back and forth trading buckets as redshirt freshman guard Myja White hit a three, while layups from Sibande and sophomore forward Elijah McNamara tied the score at 24 with 11:20 to go. Redshirt sophomore guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands joined in the three-point party, while McNamara put down a dunk to make it 29-24 at the 10:00 mark.
An old-fashioned three-point play from White, and a free throw by redshirt junior guard Milos Jovic completed a 9-0 run that gave the RedHawks a 33-24 advantage. Bowling Green cut the deficit to five before a three from Jovic and back-to-back threes from Coleman-Lands gave Miami its largest lead of the half at 42-28 with 6:44 to go.
Both teams finally cooled off from there as the 'Hawks were only able to score three points the rest of the half. They held the Falcons to only eight however and still went into the break with a 45-36 advantage.
Miami hit nine three-pointers in the first half and finished 16-for-34 (47.1 percent) from the field. Nine different RedHawks scored in the period, led by Coleman-Lands with nine points.
The Red and White started out strong in the second half as a bucket from Brown, a free throw by Sibande and a layup by senior forward Bam Bowman gave Miami a 12-point advantage at 52-40 with 17:49 to go. The Falcons called timeout and responded with an 8-0 run to close within four at the 15:47 mark.
A big triple by Brown helped stop the run and put Miami ahead, 55-48, but BGSU took advantage of a RedHawk cold streak with a 13-2 run over the next six minutes to take its first lead since the first half at 61-57 with 8:43 remaining.
Miami quickly responded to falling behind as a layup from Sibande and an old-fashioned three-point play by Brown put it back on top, 62-61. The lead changed hands four more times, until free throws from Brown and Grant gave the RedHawks a 70-67 advantage with 3:14 to go.
Tied at 70, Grant hit a pull up jumper to put Miami on top, but the Falcons quickly answered to tie. Each team hit a pair of free throws as the score was tied at 74 closing in on the final minute. With 1:04 to go, a Bowling Green bucket put it back in the lead. Bowman responded by hitting one free throw to make it 76-75 with 47 seconds to go. The RedHawks got a defensive stop, but were unable to score with four seconds remaining. The Falcons hit a pair of free throws to up three. Miami was fouled shooting a three with 0.3 seconds left, but only converted on one free throw as it fell, 78-76.
The RedHawks finished the game with a season-high 19 offensive rebounds and won the rebounding battle, 45-43. They were hurt by only hitting one more three-pointer after starting the game 9-for-11. Sibande and Coleman-Lands each finished with nine for Miami. Bowling Green was paced by Dylan Frye, who scored 22.
The RedHawks return to Millett Hall for their first MAC home game on Friday as they host Buffalo. Tip time is at 7 p.m. and it will air live nationally on CBS Sports Network.
