Confidence is rising within Miami University’s men’s basketball team.

The RedHawks are suddenly near .500 after winning their second straight nailbiter Wednesday, a 63-60 triumph over visiting Bowling Green before a crowd of 1,405 at Millett Hall.

“I think the confidence is definitely building,” said MU forward Will Felder, who hit 10 of 14 shots, totaled 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “When we get down the stretch, we’re the only ones we can rely on. I think we’re starting to trust each other on defense and trust that we can get stops at the right times.”

Miami led only three times all night and tallied the game’s final four points, improving to 7-8 overall and 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference East Division.

Jordon Crawford and A’uston Calhoun both tossed in 21 points for the Falcons (6-10, 1-2). Crawford misfired on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“You are always going to have times in basketball games when things are not going your way,” RedHawks coach John Cooper said. “The team that figures it out, the tough people, the people that stick to it, the people that have character, the people that have integrity, find a way to come together and get the job done.

“I always (say) there’s reasons and results. Quite frankly, I’m not interested in the reasons because that’s what this world is. It’s a result-oriented world. It’s not necessarily how you go about doing it. At the end of the day, do you get the job done? Lo and behold, we were able to somehow win the game.”

MU shot 54.9 percent from the floor, yet was only 2 of 14 from 3-point range. The hosts were 5 of 6 at the line — ironically, Allen Roberts had the only miss on the front end of the bonus with 6.7 seconds left.

Bowling Green, which shot 57.8 percent from the field, quickly brought the ball down the court, but Crawford’s trey at the buzzer found iron.

“We had too many empty possessions late, and we couldn’t consistently get stops,” Falcons coach Louis Orr said. “That’s something we’ve got to be able to do.”

Drew McGhee sank 7 of 9 field goals and scored a season-high 14 points for MU. Roberts added 13 points, Felder’s jumper with 1:59 left gave Miami a 61-60 edge, and Quinten Rollins converted a short driving floater with 19.2 seconds remaining.

“I saw the shot clock was running down, so I couldn’t pass it because it would’ve put my guys in a bad position,” Rollins said. “I got it back in my strong hand and I drove, and he gave me a little wide-open gap once I got past the big that was guarding Drew. I just floated it up and it went in.”