OXFORD, Ohio -- Scratch the Miami RedHawks from the list of teams without a Mid-American Conference win. Buoyed by a big contribution from their bench, the RedHawks posted a 68-61 win over Akron Saturday at Millett Hall.
"We were thirsty to get a win," Miami head coach Jack Owens said. "They battled and found a way against a really good defensive team -- the No. 1 defensive team in our league."
Senior guard Darrian Ringo led MU (9-9, 1-4 MAC) with 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Junior forward Bam Bowman notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, sophomores Milos Jovic (9) and Jalen Adaway (8) combined for 17 points to spearhead a spirited contribution from MU’s bench.
For the last three weeks, Owens said, "I've been telling Milos and Precious (Ayeh) and guys who haven't played quite a bit -- even when we were winning -- 'Guys, stay the course. You're going to help us win games.'"
RedHawk players were diving for loose balls, forcing jump balls on several occasions. They also hit the boards to grab a 43-31 advantage in rebounds. "We had a lot of energy, " Jovic said. " When we play hard on defense, i's going to be really hard to beat us."
Akron, coming off a two-point win over Eastern Michigan, lost for the third time in four games, with all three setbacks coming on the road. Junior Tyler Cheese produced a game-high 17 points.
Both teams owned first half leads, with Miami up by 12 at one point and the Zips in front by as many as seven. When the half ended, however, it was a 30-all deadlock.
Akron took an early lead after intermission but was twice caught by the hosts. After a 36-all tie, Akron scored seven straight. Daniel Utomi’s fast break layup at 13:01 prompted a RedHawk timeout and MU regrouped.
The timely time out not only put Miami’s offense back on track, it put the Zips on a sidetrack. Akron would not score another field goal until Jaden Sayle’s bucket at 4:42. That ended a 21-2 Miami run that put the hosts up by a dozen, 57-45.
Akron managed to cut the deficit to five with 1:09 remaining, but Miami made five-of-seven free throws and added a breakaway dunk while pushing its advantage back to 10 before winning by seven.
>> Saturday's 10 lead changes and six ties. Miami was in front for 17:48, while the Zips led for 16:59.
>> Akron leads the MAC in defense, allowing 62.4 ppg. The next lowest average is Toledo at 68.1 ppg.
>> Miami ranks eighth in free throw percentage (68.5%) but made just 11 of 20 against Akron.
>> The bottom three teams in turnover margin are Miami (-0.78), Ohio (-1.59) and Western Michigan (-4.11). Their collective MAC record is 2-9.
>> Both Miami and Akron had 24 field goals Saturday. The RedHawks owned three more treys and four more free throws.
>> UA had advantages in points in the paint (30-26), second chance points (16-12) and fast break points (11-8).