OXFORD – The Miami University men's basketball team came up just short in a 64-60 loss to Western Michigan on Tuesday evening at Millett Hall. The loss drops Miami to 9-13 overall and 2-7 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos improve to 10-12, 3-6.
Freshman
Dae Dae Grant scored a career-high 20 points and added five assists and three rebounds.
Precious Ayah and
Milos Jovic each added 10 points off the bench and
Dalonte Brown had eight points and six rebounds.
Western Michigan was 22-of-30 from the foul line, while the RedHawks were 8-of-19.
Miami opened the game on a 10-0 run behind three pointers from Bowman and
Myja White. The Broncos answered by scoring the next 10 points to knot the score with 13:15 to play in the first half.
Neither team could gain much traction for the remainder of the half as the RedHawks took a 28-26 lead to the locker room. Miami's offense came out hot to start the second half as it opened up a 38-33 advantage after Jovic converted a three-point play prior to the first media timeout.
WMU answered right back with a 12-2 run to claim a 45-40 lead with 12:18 to play.
Miami slowly closed the gap and eventually grabbed a 54-52 lead with 3:31 to play as Ayah scored eight points in a span of five minutes.
Ayah converted on a short jumper to extend Miami's lead to 56-53, but the Broncos scored from inside the paint to close the gap to within 56-55 with 1:48 to play.
Following a Grant free throw the RedHawks led 58-56 with a minute to play, but WMU's Brandon Johnson was fouled as he made a turn-around jumper. On the ensuing free throw the ball was wedged between the glass and rim causing a jump ball and handed the ball back to the Broncos. WMU went back to Johnson on the next possession and he gave the Broncos a 60-58 lead with 43 seconds to play.
On the next possession Grant converted on 1-of-2 free throws to get Miami within 60-59, but WMU pushed its lead to 62-59 after a pair of free throws.
Isaiah Coleman-Lands was fouled on a three-point attempt with 2.2 seconds to go, but missed the first from the charity stripe.
Miami returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 8 with a trip to Ohio. Opening tip is set for 3:30 p.m.
