“I should’ve dove on it,” Owens said afterward.
For the second straight home game, fourth-year junior guard-forward Jake Wright set career highs for points with 22 and 3-pointers with seven as Miami (6-4) snapped a three-game losing streak against Fort Wayne, which plays in the Summit League.
“I felt good,” Wright said. “I wasn’t satisfied with my shot the last couple of games, so I got into the gym this week, and I have to give credit to the guys for finding me.”
Freshman forward Dalonte Brown scored 17 points, freshman guard Nike Sibande finished with 16 and senior forward Logan McLane added 12 before fouling out, helping the RedHawks hold off the Mastodons for their third win in four games after a three-game losing streak.
“That was a big-time victory,” Wright said. “We executed the game plan and did what we needed to do. We knew they would drive and be aggressive and had shooters on the wings.
“It came down to grit. We protected our home court and did what we had to do.”
Junior guard Darrian Ringo contributed eight points and 11 assists while committing three turnovers as Miami watched a 13-point lead with 13:41 left dwindle to one before Brown connected on a jumper from the free throw line for a 72-69 lead with 3:13 remaining.
Miami shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field and 56 percent (14-of-25) on 3-pointers while limiting the Mastodons to 39.3 percent (24-of-61) overall and 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from beyond the arc. Fifth-year senior guard Bryson Scott, Ringo’s cousin, and senior guard Jordon King each scored 13 points to lead Fort Wayne (6-5).
“We’re excited with how the guys competed,” Owens said. “(Fort Wayne is) a good offensive team, but we were able to get them out of their rhythm.”
Plagued by turnovers and fouls, the RedHawks started slowly and trailed 10-5 with a little more than 13 minutes left in the first half. At one point, Miami had five turnovers and one made field goal and finished the first half with 13 personal fouls.
The RedHawks never trailed after taking their first lead, 12-10, on a McLane layup with 10:24 left before halftime. Wright followed with the second of his five 3-pointers in the half to cap a 10-0 Miami run and they went on to lead by as many as 15 points, 43-28, on Sibande’s 3-pointer with 3:02 left in the half before the Mastodons ended the half on a mini-run that produced a 45-37 halftime score.
“The coach got on us a lot,” Ringo said. “He sat me down for a few minutes. I felt like I had to come in and set a tone, and that’s what I did.”
The RedHawks are off next week for exams and aren’t scheduled to play until they meet Rio Grande, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II team, on Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. in Oxford. The RedStorm plays in the same conference as Midway, the team Miami walloped, 123-40, on Nov. 29 at Millett.
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