OXFORD — A tight zone defense held the Miami University men’s basketball team’s offense in check as it fell to Eastern Michigan, 74-57, on Saturday, Jan. 28. The RedHawks are now 9-12 on the season and 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles improve to 13-8 overall and 5-3 in the MAC.
Miami shot 20-for-57 (35.1 percent) from the field and was led by junior forward Logan McLane who had 16 points. Freshman forward Marcus Weathers nearly had a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. EMU counted with forward James Thompson down low as he had 26 points and 20 rebounds to help lead the Eagles to the victory.
It took Miami awhile to figure out the Eastern Michigan zone at the start of the contest. The Eagles took advantage, building a 17-3 lead with 12:16 to go in the half and forcing a RedHawk timeout.
Miami began to work the ball inside and was rewarded as freshman guard Michael Weathers completed an old-fashioned three-point play. A couple of buckets from McLane and jumpers by redshirt sophomore guard Jake Wright and junior forward Rod Mills Jr. were part of an overall 13-4 run that pulled the `Hawks to within five at 21-16 with 7:16 left. Despite a couple of layups from Marcus Weathers, EMU’s offense heated up late in the period as it closed on a 20-11 run to take a 41-27 advantage into the break.
The Eagles scored the first six points of the second half to increase their lead by 20. An old fashioned three-point play from Marcus Weathers, along with a jumper by McLane cut in the EMU lead, but the Eagles eventually pushed it back to 19 at 58-39 with 10:28 to go. A triple from senior guard Jake Bischoff, followed by back-to-back layups from Wright and Marcus Weathers made it a 12-point contest at 58-46 at the 8:45 mark. That would be as close as the RedHawks could get as Eastern Michigan answered with a 10-4 run over the next four minutes that put the game away.
Wright finished with 12 points for Miami. He also had a career-high three steals. As a team, the Red and White had 11 steals, their second-highest total of the season.
Women fall to OU
OXFORD — The RedHawk women’s basketball team dropped a 79-62 decision to Ohio on Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall. Miami’s record falls to 8-13 (1-7 MAC) while Ohio moves to 16-4 (7-2 MAC).
Leah Purvis tied her career-high by scoring a team-leading 23 points for the Red & White. Savannah Kluesner recorded her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Ohio’s attack was spearheaded by 17-point efforts from Quiera Lampkins and Hannah Boesinger.
The teams traded scoring chances early on with Miami getting points from Purvis, Kluesner and Lauren Dickerson. At the media timeout with 4:21 to play in the first quarter, the RedHawks held a three-point lead at 7-4. With MU’s lead still intact at 11-8 a few minutes later, Ohio started to come alive by knocking down three straight from long range. Two Nanci Hunter free throws ended the run but the Bobcats tacked on one more point before the frame came to a close. Through 10 minutes of play, Ohio carried an 18-13 advantage.
The second began much like the first with the Bobcats and RedHawks matching each other on the offensive end. A Dickerson three-pointer with just over two and a half minutes to go in the opening half cut the deficit to just two at 25-23, however six straight points to end the half had Ohio up, 31-23, at the halfway point.
Abbey Hoff opened up the scoring in the second half with a quick layup, but the Bobcats answered with the next nine points to extend their lead to 40-25 with just under eight minutes to go in the third. Miami would hit one more field goal in the quarter, a Purvis jumper, with the rest of their production coming at the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Ohio kept knocking down shots from the field, yielding them a 56-36 advantage through three quarters of play.
The Bobcats worked their lead to a game-high 26 points with three minutes left to play but MU battled hard down the stretch. The RedHawks closed the game on a 13-4 run but time was not on their side as Ohio held on for the win.
Miami hits the road for their next game, a Wednesday contest at Kent State. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. The ‘Hawks then return home to host Ball State on Saturday at noon. Both games can be seen live on ESPN3, with the latter also being broadcasted on BCSN and Spectrum Sports.
