The Huskies went into the game leading the MAC West Division and with the extra measure of confidence stemming from a 70-55 home win over Miami just two weeks earlier.
Buoyed by a season-high crowd of 3,831 gathered for the annual One Miami Weekend festivities, the RedHawks overcame the adversity and held off the Huskies for a 65-60 win.
Third-year sophomore guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands led four Miami players in double figures with 15 points, including four free throws in the last 10 seconds to clinch the win.
“It felt great,” said Coleman-Lands, whose five rebounds were second among the RedHawks to fourth-year junior forward Previous Ayah’s eight. “I’m sure all of you know that we’ve had our free throw woes this year. It feels good to put that behind us. I hope it’s a step forward.”
Freshman guard Dae Dae Grant scored 11 points, while senior forward Bam Bowman and sophomore forward Eli McNamara each added 10 for Miami (10-15, 3-9 MAC), which led for the entire game.
“That was just a great game,” third-year coach Jack Owens said. “I was proud of the way we fought. Down two guys, they stayed together. A lot of guys came in and contributed to a big win.”
The Huskies pulled within two points, 60-58, with 1:09 left in the game. Miami sophomore guard Mekhi Lairy stole the ball from NIU senior guard Eugene German, who led both teams with 21 points, and was fouled with 23 seconds left in the game. He sank one of two before Coleman-Lands rebounded German’s missed 3-pointer and was fouled with 10 seconds left. He sank both for a 63-58 lead.
The RedHawks focused on making German work for his shots and limiting NIU’s inside opportunities.
“If German scored 20 points, we wanted them to come on 20 shots,” Owens said. “Our team defense is trending the right way.”
German finished 8-for-20 from the field.
“They scored 32 points in the paint,” Coleman-Lands said about the game two weeks earlier. “That was a huge focus in practice. We wanted to try to keep the ball out of the middle and make them shoot it outside shots.”
Miami returns to the road for its next two games, at Akron next Saturday and at Kent State on Feb. 25. After playing four out of five games on the road, the RedHawks return to Millett on Feb. 27 to meet Central Michigan in a game that was was postponed from Jan. 28 due to concerns about the coronavirus.
Junior guard Nike Sibande, Miami’s leading scorer with an average of 13.3 points per game, was sidelined with the flu. Junior forward Dalonte Brown, second on the team with an average of 11.0 points per game, was out with a knee injury he suffered in the RedHawks’ 75-67 loss on Tuesday at Toledo.
Brown is day-to-day while Sibande participated in Miami’s Saturday-morning walkthru before being declared out for the game. Sophomore forward Josh Brewer, a junior college transfer, made his first career start for the RedHawks in place of Brown.
Miami led by as many as 10 points before going into halftime with a 31-27 lead. Eli McNamara, a 6-foot-9 sophomore making his second straight start and fifth of the season, scored the first seven RedHawks’ points before Bam Bowman scored 10 straight Miami points on back-to-back 3-point shots and a pair of layups during a personal 10-2 run for a 19-9 lead. The RedHawks also led, 27-17, before the Huskies put together a 10-4 run the close the half.
“That was a great crowd,” Owens said. “You feed off their energy. That’s what it’s all about.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Miami at Akron, 4 p.m., 980, 1450
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