Less than three minutes remained on the clock.
A 3-pointer from redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis widened Kent State’s lead to seven over the Miami University men’s basketball team. Head coach Travis Steele called a timeout and brought the RedHawks to a huddle.
Miami battled hard against the Golden Flashes, outscoring them in the first half 44-41, but with two and a half minutes left, a seven-point comeback seemed out of reach.
Steele wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet, not with more than 6,000 fans packing Millett Hall.
“You could tell our group was really down,” Steele said. “I said, ‘Fellas, we’re not gonna win this game if we don’t believe. There’s a ton of time.’ We’re at a fork in the road. We can do one of two things: We can get tighter with our togetherness, with our execution, or we can splinter and lay down.”
The RedHawks recently lost two road games against the Western Michigan University Broncos and the Eastern Michigan University Eagles, marking the first time this season that they have lost back-to-back matchups.
“Obviously, we weren’t expecting to lose,” said junior guard Peter Suder. “But the main thing was to handle adversity. We are the same team when we did go on those big streaks. Even though we did lose [those] two games… we had to still believe that we were as good as we are.”
The season so far has been very different from the same time last year. Miami dropped consecutive games five times last season, and a three-game losing streak to conclude the season brought its record under .500.
One revolution around the sun later, the RedHawks posted their best record with Steele at the helm and positioned themselves as a serious contender in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.
Besides one loss to the University of Akron Zips, Miami defeated its conference rivals decisively, outscoring MAC opponents by an average of 10.5 points when it won. Following their loss to Akron, the RedHawks rebounded with a five-game winning streak, including a 92-80 statement win over the No. 4 University of Toledo Rockets.
This success made the losses on the road in Michigan hurt that much more for the RedHawks. However, Steele emphasized the importance of facing adversity and viewing the season on a wider scale.
“I told our guys: The season is a lifetime,” Steele said. “There’s going to be ebbs, there’s going to be flows. We didn’t play well. I said, ‘Fellas, we just got to get back to what we do.’”
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Miami returned to Oxford and braced for the arrival of the No. 3 Golden Flashes.
Kent State hadn’t lost in almost a month, and they were coming off a decisive 91-84 win against the Bowling Green State University Falcons.
Senior guard Jalen Sullinger played his best game of the season with 32 points against the Falcons, while Davis brought in another 22 points.
With the Golden Flashes on a hot streak and boasting two of the best scorers in the MAC, the pressure was on for Miami to defend home court. For Suder, this meant putting forth a strong defense and limiting Sullinger and Davis’ impact.
“The focus for our defense was defensive rebounding,” Suder said. “Sullinger and Davis are all-league guys. They put up numbers that can win games even if their defense isn’t good. We have to keep them under control.”
Both teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle that saw 18 lead changes and 14 times the score was tied. However, despite holding a 44-41 lead at half, the RedHawks allowed Kent State to outscore them 38-28 going into the final two minutes of regulation.
With 30 combined points from Sullinger and junior forward Delrecco Gillespie, the Golden Flashes cushioned its lead with a three-score advantage. The RedHawks needed to regroup going into the final four-minute battle.
“I remember in the second half, I had two back-to-back turnovers,” Suder said. “I’ve got to flush that out. I can’t become hesitant with my reads. If I’m trying to make a play, I still got to be confident in [my] moves.”
The RedHawks began to crawl back, with junior forward Antwone Woolfolk adding three followed by first-year guard Luke Skaljac sinking a layup.
Suder converted a deep shot to close the gap to 82-80 with a minute to go. Fifty seconds later, Suder found himself at the free throw line with an opportunity to tie the game.
Two swishes later, and the RedHawks brought themselves back in the game. However, with 13 seconds on the clock, Kent State still had a chance to run down and take a last-second victory.
Sophomore guard Cian Medley went for the game-winning jumpshot, but sophomore wing Eian Elmer reached up and ensured the ball wouldn’t make it to the rim.
“That’s a moment I’m not afraid of,” Elmer said. “I saw him coming down, and I knew they were trying to get a switch. I just knew [that] he can’t score this ball right here. I knew I was gonna get a block right there.”
The RedHawks prepared themselves for their first overtime period of the 2024-25 season. Both teams kept the score even, but after two Elmer 3-pointers from the left side, Miami held the advantage for two minutes until the final buzzer.
“He likes the left side, analytically,” Steele said. “If you look at his shots, he shoots better from that side of the floor than he does the right side. He made two big ones, and he earned the right to make that through his work. The more he spends time in the gym, the more he’ll be ready in those moments.”
With the MAC tournament coming up on March 13, the RedHawks are gearing up for their first postseason appearance with the new coaching staff. Steele emphasizes that while the team focuses on each regular season matchup, he wants Miami to peak at the right time in Cleveland.
“We have to be able to win,” Steele said. “Ultimately, my goal is to get [us] to win three games in three days at Cleveland. [This game] shows the resiliency that our team has, the fight when [our] back’s against the wall. We responded the right way. I think that’s going to really serve us well here moving forward.”
Read More
Miami skating heads to national championships
By Elisa Rosenthal | 13 hours agoMiami's collegiate and senior synchronized skating teams return to the national championship competitions in Colorado on Feb. 28
Recap: Elmer and Byers propel Miami to 14th win at Millett this season
By Kethan Babu | YesterdayMiami men's basketball defended home court again with a win over Northern Illinois. The RedHawks remain at No. 2 in the MAC going into the final three games of the regular season.
Preview: Men’s basketball defending Millett Hall against Northern Illinois
By Kethan Babu | 2 days agoMiami men's basketball plays again at Millett Hall tonight after defeating Kent State in overtime on Feb. 21