OXFORD, Ohio—A strong first-half effort propelled the Miami University men's basketball team past Northern Illinois University on Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall, 70-58. The win was the first in Mid-American Conference play for the RedHawks, who improve to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in MAC action. The Huskies drop to 1-9 overall and 0-5 in MAC play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The RedHawks had a dominant first half against the Huskies, jumping out to a 40-24 lead. Miami shot an impressive 58 percent from the field, and was boosted by a lights-out performance from the three-point range. Miami shot 67 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, making 7 of its 11 attempts. 
• Redshirt sophomore guard Myja White led the way in scoring for the RedHawks in the opening half, connecting on all four of his three-point attempts and finishing the first half with 12 points. 
• The Huskies struggled shooting out of the gate but made their last three field goals to finish the half shooting 45 percent from the field.
• The Huskies got off to a good start in the second half, cutting the lead to single digits in the early minutes. Northern Illinois used an early 16-4 run that cut the Miami lead to eight points by the 12:05 mark, 48-40. NIU got as close as seven with 8:31 to play, 52-45.
• Miami hit its stride once again, going on 12-3 flurr that extended its lead to 64-48 with 4:06 to play. Miami led by as many as 18 down the stretch as the RedHawks rolled to the win.

NOTES

• Junior forward Elijah McNamara led four RedHawks who scored in double figures, amassing a career-high 15 points, 11 coming in the second half.
• White finished the game shooting 80 percent from the field, hitting four of his five three point attempts and finishing with a career-high 12 points.
• Junior guard Mekhi Lairy scored 13 points on 71-percent shooting from the field. Lairy also added five assists onto his impressive outing.
• Also scoring in double figures was sophomore guard Dae Dae Grant with 12 points.
• Miami shot a solid 53.2 percent from the field for the game and 55.6 percent from beyond the arc while knocking down 10 triples.

 
UP NEXT: Miami heads to Ohio University for a Battle of the Bricks matchup on Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.