CLEVELAND, Ohio—A furious comeback that had the RedHawks within six in the final minute of the game came up short as the Miami University men's basketball team (14-18) dropped an 85-75 decision to No. 2 seed Kent State University (22-9) on Thursday afternoon in the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Buckets from Precious Ayah and Dae Dae Grant and a trey from Kamari Williams helped Miami take a quick 7-3 lead against the Golden Flashes.
• Miami held an 11-10 edge at the 12:38 mark off an Isaiah Coleman-Lands jumper, but KSU pushed ahead to a 41-26 lead.
• The RedHawks closed out the half scoring six unanswered to close within 41-32 at the intermission. Grant scored five of those late first-half points for the RedHawks.
• Grant sunk a triple to open the second-half scoring and extend the RedHawk run from the end of the first half to nine unanswered, further shrinking the KSU lead to six, 41-35. KSU then went on a 12-0 run to further its lead and eventually extended its advantage to a game-high 19 points with 3:40 to play.
• Miami staged a late 18-6 flurry with nine points coming from Mekhi Lairy and six points from Ayah to close within six with 32 seconds to go, 81-75, but the Golden Flashes hit late free throws to push ahead to the double-digit win.

 
NOTES:

• Ayah led the RedHawks with 16 points, going 7-of-8 from the floor and knocking down both free throw attempts, and added six rebounds.
• Grant chipped in 15 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Lairy scored 14 points, all coming in the second half.
• Elijah McNamara tallied a season-high 13 points.
• Williams paced the RedHawks with eight rebounds and notched nine points.

 
UP NEXT:
Miami concludes its stint in the MAC Tournament.