OXFORD – Playing without both
Nike Sibande (13.3 ppg.) and
Dalonte Brown (11.0 ppg.), the Miami University men's basketball team upset Northern Illinois 65-60 on Saturday afternoon in Millett Hall. Four different RedHawks scored in double figures in front of 3,811 in attendance.
Missing its top two scorers, the RedHawks were going to need offense from some unlikely sources.
Isaiah Coleman-Lands led Miami with 15 points and was joined by
Dae Dae Grant (11 points),
Bam Bowman (10 points) and
Elijah McNamara (10 points).
Precious Ayah chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds. Bowman, Coleman-Lands and Ayah were part of a bench effort that outscored the Huskies' bench 33-4.
Miami had one of its best defensive efforts of the season, holding the Huskies to just 39.4% (21-of-53) from the floor and allowed just five three-pointers (5-of-16) all afternoon.
The RedHawks led 60-58 with 1:07 to play and following a missed three as the shot clock expired, the Huskies had the ball with 35 seconds to play with a chance to tie or take the lead. Seconds later
Mekhi Lairy came up with the biggest defensive play of the game, stripping the ball from NIU's Eugene German.
Lairy extended the lead to three following a free throw and Coleman-Lands iced the game with two more from the charity strip with just seconds remaining.
Miami got off to a quick 15-7 start behind seven early points from McNamara and a pair of triples from Bowman.
NIU cut Miami's lead to 19-15 at the 9:48 mark, but back-to-back three-pointers from
Isaiah Coleman-Lands extended Miami's lead back to double digits (25-15) with eight minutes to play in the first half. Coleman-Lands would add his third triple of the game late in the half as the RedHawks went to the locker room with a 31-27 advantage.
The start of the second half was a defensive struggle for both squads, but a bucket by
Milos Jovic pushed Miami's lead to 40-32 with 14 minutes to play.
An NIU triple cut Miami's lead to just 50-48 with 7:10 to play, but four straight Miami foul shots by Grant and Ayah pushed the lead back to six, 54-48. Miami maintained its six point lead following a three pointer from Lairy that brought the crowd to its feet with just over four minutes to play.
Miami returns to action next Saturday (Feb. 22) for a 4 p.m. contest at Akron.
