AKRON, Ohio – Senior Logan McLane scored 21 second half points and the Miami RedHawks came back -- twice -- to edge Akron 64-62 in overtime Saturday at James A. Rhodes Arena
The visiting RedHawks (15-14, 8-8 MAC) made just 4 of 24 (16.7%) field goal attempts before intermission and trailed 31-17 at the break.
They were still . . .
STEPPING UP
“He stepped up big,” Miami head coach Jack Owens said of McLane, who came off the bench and played 28 minutes.
Akron (12-16, 5-11 MAC) temporarily stemmed the tide with five of the next seven points, but the ‘Hawks continued to chip away and again pulled within one at 50-49 after a McLane dunk with 16 seconds left.
Daniel Utomi, who led all scorers with 24 points, hit one of two free throws with 13.2 left to put Akron up by two.
FIRST POINTS WERE HUGE POINTS
After a Miami timeout, Nike Sibande drove to the hoop. His layup rimmed out, but point guard Darrian Ringo was there for a putback to beat the buzzer and send the game to overtime. It was Ringo’s first points of the game. He also had a crucial steal to set up McLane’s previous basket and was a factor in overtime.
ANOTHER QUICK AKRON START
Miami needed its second comeback after Akron scored the first six points. Jimond Ivey provided four of his 11 points in the run. The junior also had 12 rebounds to register a double-double on the day.
Isaiah Coleman-Lands finally got the ‘Hawks on the board again with back-to-back threes – one of the old-fashioned variety. Ringo broke the 59-all tie with a layup at 1:22 and followed that with his fourth and final steal of the day. He was fouled after the pick and made both ends of a double-bonus opportunity.
ZIPS FORCED TO PLAY CATCH-UP
Down by four, the desperate Zips crashed the boards to pull out offensive rebounds on three straight misses at the other end. Eric Parrish finally scored on a drive and converted a free throw for the 3-point play.
Akron pressured the inbounds, but MU broke that and finished with a McLane layup. Two Ivey free throws with 29 ticks moved the Zips within one again, but it was the home team’s last points of the evening. Mills made one of two for Miami and RedHawk defensive pressure forced a tough Akron perimeter shot that was off the mark with four seconds left.
“In the first half … I felt like our team was going through the motions,” Owens said. “I’m happy with how they responded (after intermission) … My thing is, why do we have to … start that way?”
SHAKY SHOOTING
Miami, which trailed by 17 at one point, connected on 18 of 40 (45%) from the field over the final 25 minutes, finishing at 34.4 percent overall. MU was 5 of 26 (19.2%) on threes and 15 of 19 at line.
McLane (23) and Coleman-LandS (11) were the only RedHawks to reach double figures. Utomi (23), Parrish (15) and Ivey (11) accounted for 80.6 percent of Akron’s scoring.
Akron hit 21 of 55 (36.8%) overall and was 6 of 28 from distance. The hosts converted 15 of 17 charity tosses.
NEXT:
Both teams play at 7 p.m. Miami is at Kent State, while Akron visits Buffalo.