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Men's basketball loses back-and-forth against WMU

Tuesday night in Kalamazoo, MI the RedHawk men's basketball team faced the Mid-American Conference Broncos of Western Michigan in a thrilling contest that came down to the wire. The RedHawks looked to avenge a disappointing Jan. 6 home defeat against the Broncos, but Miami (13-11, 6-5 MAC) fell to WMU (14-10, 6-5 MAC) 68-64.

The first half was highlighted by back-and-forth onslaughts from the respective offenses. The 'Hawks had a 14-9 lead at the 12:44 mark in the first, but succumbed to an offensive surge from the Broncos, when they went on an 8-0 run led by junior center Seth Dugan.

As soon as Western started to control the tempo of the contest, Miami responded, starting with a Nike Sibande midrange jumper with 4:47 left in the half. Down 28-25 at this point, the 'Hawks added six in a row to take a 31-28 lead.

Western would subsequently overcome this deficit by taking a 38-36 advantage into the locker room.

The second half opened with both sides trading offensive blows, again, until the 'Hawks began to build a lead, eventually reaching 53-46 with a resounding Jalen Adaway dunk with 12:07 left to go.

Unfortunately for the 'Hawks, their offense began to go cold as WMU slowly took control of the game. The 'Hawks had multiple chances to score down the stretch as the game became closer, yet WMU's zone defense seemed to suffocate any chance of Miami making an offensive charge.

Broncos junior forward Josh Davis put an exclamation on the game with a late three pointer from well beyond the arc, as WMU handed the Hawks' their 11th defeat of the season by the score of 68-64.

The 'Hawks' next matchup is this Friday at 6 p.m. against Toledo when Miami legend, Wally Szczerbiak, returns to Oxford as part of the CBS Sports Network broadcast with Gus Johnson and Jan van Breda Kolff who will also be covering this exciting late-season MACtion.