AKRON, Ohio -- The Miami RedHawks erased slow starts in both halves with gritty play down the stretch to post a 57-52 overtime win over the Akron Zips Saturday at James A. Rhodes Arena. It was the first Miami win at the facility in 12 tries and third consecutive win for MU, which upset Bowling Green on the road earlier in the week.
The surging RedHawks raised their record to 11-16 overall and 6-8 in MAC play. Akron, meanwhile, dropped its third consecutive game to fall two games back of MAC East leader Kent State.
The RedHawks had trouble early getting to and converting at the foul line. It was a different story late, however, as MU scored 10 of its final 15 points from the stripe. In the process, Miami converted all of its last 10 attempts.
Point guard Eric Washington, who led all scorers with 21 points, withered the pressure in crunch time by hitting both ends of three bonus opportunities. The first two came with 15.2 seconds left and pulled Miami into a 48-all tie to ultimately force overtime.
Akron took the lead a final time with two free throws by Deji Ibitayo to open the extra period, but that proved to be UA’s final points of the night. Will Sullivan, answered with the second of two big treys late in the game and Washington added four points on bonus situations. Chris Bryant’s two charity tosses with six seconds left made it a two possession advantage and put the game away.
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