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Miami falls to NIU, faces Kent State

Photo by Lauren Olson, Photography Editor

By Jack Brewer, For The Miami Student

The Miami University men's basketball team dropped a 69-67 contest to Northern Illionis University, as the Huskies came from behind to win.

The RedHawks (8-14, 3-6 Mid-American Conference led by six points with two minutes left, but Northern Illinois closed the game on an 8-0 run to stun the RedHawks on their home court. The RedHawks have been on the wrong end of close contests this season, and this game was no different.

"I kind of feel like this one we let one get away from us," Miami senior guard Will Sullivan said. "We were in control most of the game, and the things that we wanted to stop going into it is how they beat us, which is pretty frustrating. That's on us. So we have to get back to the drawing board and fix it."

Junior guard Geovonie McKnight had his best performance of the season in the loss. He scored 18 points, making 6 of 8 shots from the field. Sullivan and junior guard Eric Washington were relatively quiet in the Northern Illinois loss, putting up six points and nine points, respectively.

Miami will need Sullivan and Washington to get back on track this weekend, when the RedHawks face Kent State University.

The Golden Flashes (15-7, 6-3) have lost their last two contests after going on a six-game win streak in January. The Golden Flashes lost at Western Michigan Wednesday on a last-second driving layup by Connar Tava, with a final score of 67-66. A notable absence for Kent State in that contest was leading scorer and rebounder Jimmy Hall, a redshirt sophomore forward who was unable to play due to an illness.

Kent State has lost just one conference game at home so far this season. In contrast, the RedHawks have just one win away from home this season, which means that they will need perhaps their best effort of the season to take down the Golden Flashes on their home court.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. as the RedHawks look to rebound in a big way.

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