Miami's Nathan Peavy goes up for two of his 14 points against Akron's Jeremiah Wood Wednesday night at Millett Hall. (Jeff Creech)
It took an extra five minutes in overtime, but the Miami RedHawks (14-12, 9-4 MAC) squeaked by Mid-American Conference East leader Akron (20-6, 10-3 MAC) Wednesday night at Millett Hall, 64-62. The win puts Miami one game behind Akron and Kent State, who are tied atop the standings.
Forwards Nathan Peavy and Tim Pollitz once again led the RedHawks in points, with Peavy scoring 14 and Pollitz adding 17. However, it was the clutch free throw shooting of Doug Penno, with under a minute in overtime, which sealed Miami's eighth straight home victory.
"It was a hard fought game," said Miami Head Coach Charlie Coles. "We played really well. I don't think Akron was able to match our potential."
Coming out rather sluggish, the 'Hawks trailed the Akron Zips by a single point throughout the first six minutes of the game as they were unable to find their shooting groove. However, the RedHawks sought to turn things around as Peavy posted four quick points to Miami's score, accompanied with scoring by Monty St. Clair and Pollitz, giving Miami the lead, 14-11, midway through the first half.
Miami's defense continued to pressure the Zips, forcing careless turnovers and getting several shot clock violations.
"I wanted to be active near the post," Peavy said. "I just tried to affect anyone that was attempting to drive in the paint."
Thanks to the continuously hot 3-point shooting of Penno, Miami went on a 12-0 run to open up its
biggest lead.
Although Akron's Jeremiah Wood scored the Zips next 6 points, Miami's aggression continued as Pollitz helped bring Miami to a 26-17 lead, scoring four points with just two minutes to play in the first half,
Picking up the pace, the 'Hawks were determined to solidify their scoring frenzy, sending the Zips into the locker room trailing 32-22.
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The RedHawks held the Zips to just 36.8 percent shooting while they accumulated both a field goal and three point percentage of 50 percent in the first half.
"We lost our aggression in the first half," said Akron Head Coach Keith Dambrot. "But I think we made up for it in the second half."
Both teams came out of the locker room ready to play; however, it was the Zips intensity that helped them climb back from a big halftime deficit.
Miami guard Alex Moosmann knocked down a
3-pointer at the 18:36 mark, giving Miami its biggest lead of the half, 35-22.
However, Akron continued to play like a team that was in first place as the Zips' Wood, Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce began to exploit Miami's zone defense, propelling a 10-2 run from the 13:59 mark to the 9:04 mark, fizzling Miami's comfortable lead to just one.
Hot from the 3-point line, Penno answered Akron's threat quickly notching yet another 3-pointer, as the lead began to rally back and forth amongst the two teams.
Two 3-pointers, one by Joyce and one by Nate Linhart with 6:08 to play in the game, gave Akron a 50-48 lead, its first since leading 7-6 in the first half.
After Miami responded with yet another offensive attack of its own, the 'Hawks held just a slim lead.
With all the volleying back and forth, after 40 minutes of play the two teams were knotted up at 58.
"It is very nerve wrecking to be in that situation," Peavy said. "However, when you want to win, you just don't think about that."
Throughout the overtime period, guard Michael Bramos brought the heat when it was needed the most, scoring five of Miami's six overtime points.
The sixth point was the exclamation point for the game, as Penno hit a huge free throw to put the RedHawks up by two with 20 seconds left.
Akron tried one last desperation 3-point shot to steal the victory, but Joyce's wild 3-point shot didn't even come close to going in. Miami collected the rebound and the win, 64-62.
"It felt good to finally hit a three in that key situation," Bramos said.
Miami shot 48.9 percent (23-of-47) for the game and Akron shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53).
"(Miami) responded when we came at them, and that is a sign of a tough team," Dambrot said.
Four RedHawks scored in double figures led by Pollitz's 17 points. Peavy, Penno, and Bramos all scored more than 10 points to lead the 'Hawks.
Miami plays its final home game this Saturday as the second game of the basketball doubleheader, which features the women taking on Kent State at noon and the men taking on Buffalo right afterward around 2:30 at Millett.
The RedHawks will honor their three seniors as St. Clair, Peavy and Penno will all be playing their final game at Millett Hall.
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