Feb. 12, 2008

Box Score

KALAMAZOO, Mich.--In a hard-fought, double-overtime battle, Miami University's men's basketball team was edged at Western Michigan on Tuesday evening, 78-75.

The loss ended the RedHawks' five-game win streak and dropped Miami to 12-11 on the season and 6-5 in Mid-American Conference play. WMU moved to 14-10 overall and 8-3 in league action and improved to 9-1 at home on the season, including 6-0 at home in MAC play.

Western Michigan took an early 12-6 lead off a David Kool 3-pointer at 14:24, but Miami went on 15-3 run over the next five minutes to post its own six-point lead off a senior forward Tim Pollitz layup with 9:12 remaining in the half, 21-15. A 3-pointer by junior guard Eric Pollitz with 1:13 left in the first half pushed the RedHawks' lead to seven points, 33-26. WMU's Martelle McLemore hit a jumper with 52 seconds remaining, and Miami carried a 33-28 into the half.

In the second half, Western Michigan came back to knot the game 35-35, 37-37 and 39-39. Back-to-back 3-pointers by junior guard Kenny Hayes and junior forward Michael Bramos put Miami at a 10-point advantage with 5:32 to play, 58-48. WMU chipped away at the RedHawk lead over the final minutes of regulation with Kool draining a jumper with four seconds left to send the game into overtime, 63-63.

Shawntes Gary hit a 3-pointer with 4:14 left in the first overtime to give the Broncos a three-point edge, 66-63, which was the Broncos first lead since midway through the first half. A Tim Pollitz jumper followed by a Hayes 3-pointer gave Miami a two-point edge, 68-66. After WMU knotted the game, Miami took a 3-point lead, hitting 3-of-4 free throws. But again, Kool nailed the game-tying shot, hitting a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining, to send the game to a second overtime, 71-71.

Andrew Hershberger hit a pair of free-throws to score the first points of the second overtime and Western Michigan would not trail again. Miami closed within one point off a Tim Pollitz free throw with 1:25 remaining, and had the ball trailing one with 24 seconds left. A jumper with five seconds remaining was off the mark and Hershberger went to the line and drained a pair of free throws to seal the 78-75 double-overtime win for the Broncos.

Bramos paced the RedHawks with a game-high 26 point and four blocked shots. Tim Pollitz recorded a double-double with 18 points and 13 boards and added a game-high five assists. Hayes and Eric Pollitz were the other two RedHawks to score in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Hayes also dished out four assists, while Eric Pollitz had three assists and a career-high three blocked shots.

Kool led the Broncos with 23 points, while Joe Reitz had 11 points and a game-best 15 rebounds. Gary added 16 points, while Hersberger had 10 points.

Miami continues a two-game road stretch when it travels to Buffalo for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 16.