Sophomore guard Allen Roberts goes up for two points Wednesday against Kent State University. Roberts scored 12 points in the losing effort Saturday. (MICHAEL GRIGGS | The Miami Student)
Whirling winds caused a power outage at the Convocation Center Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va. as Miami University tested its five-game winning streak against the James Madison University Dukes.
Although the lights did come back on, the Dukes denied the RedHawks from shining with a 70-69 triumph. The ESPN BracketBuster event makes the 'Hawks 0-7 in road non-conference games this season with one of the strictest slates in the country.
"If you watch their RPI (rating percentage index) and their record, they won their play in game today," Miami Head Coach Charlie Coles said. "I think they had a lot of good talent. On the other hand, they hurt us with their dribble penetration and their overall athleticism kind of hurt us. I thought we played a really good game, I just think we couldn't come up with it at the end."
The Dukes (20-9, 9-7 Colonial Athletic Association) dropped in a duo of buckets to take a 4-0 lead early. With 11 minutes remaining in the half, the 'Hawks and Dukes were knotted up at 14-14 before the Red and White went on a 10-0 run. Junior Chris McHenry, sophomore Allen Roberts and senior Nick Winbush each drilled three pointers during the stretch.
The RedHawks led 28-18 before the Dukes dribbled back with an 8-0 run. Roberts reached the rim for a four-point, 30-26 lead with three minutes to go before the half. The Dukes defense denied the 'Hawks from scoring before the halftime horn after Roberts' bucket and closed the lead to one point as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
"In no way was this an average ball club," Coles said. "It was a very good team. I'm going to talk to them about taking the good and working with the bad."
Sniffing their 20th win of the season, the Dukes fought blow by blow with the RedHawks' shooters. Roberts hit a three with 8:46 remaining for a 52-48 lead, but the Dukes stormed back to take its largest lead of the game at 69-64.
With two minutes left, McHenry connected from downtown. Junior Julian Mavunga managed to net two points to tie with 30 ticks on the clock. With just 2.9 seconds left, the Dukes drove to the dish, but a RedHawks' foul put them on the line for two shots.
It was at the charity stripe where the Dukes sank the fatal free throw, making one of two from the line and forcing the Red and White (14-13, 9-3 Mid-American Conference) to answer.
Mavunga, who led the 'Hawks with 24 points and four threes, would have liked to board the bus with a 27-point night as his deep three fell short along with the RedHawks at the buzzer.
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"It kind of puts us back down to earth," Mavunga said. "We had a five-game winning streak. Now we have no winning streak. It's something where we can say even though we lost today we can still build another winning streak. We can compete and fight hard in every single one of these games, and it's what we look forward to doing."
The 'Hawks' defense did have one bright spot. Denzel Bowles came to the Convocation Center averaging 18.8 points per game. A hive of 'Hawks held the forward to just 10 points.
"We did a great job on their big guy, Bowles," Coles said. "He was averaging 18 points and he's probably going to be in the NBA one of these days. We did a great job on him and held him to 10, but then the three guards combined for 45 points."
That same defense allowed the Dukes' group of guards to shoot 57 percent from three-point range.
"At this stage of the season, a coach has got to be very, very careful," Coles said. "You can't go to them like you do in November and December and yell and scream. You have to be very, very specific in saying ‘Hey guys, what is it that we need to do to get better?' Let's get better."
Winbush went for his second straight double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Roberts netted a dozen points, while Mavunga handed out six helpers.
All five starters reached double figures in points for James Madison.
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