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Thursday, February 2, 2012
More on Miami comeback
I feel lucky. With three minutes left in regulation of Wednesday’s basketball game at Millett Hall, if someone had asked me to bet my house that the Miami RedHawks would lose to the Eastern Michigan Eagles, I might well have said yes.
I feel lucky that no one asked.
Miami’s 62-57 overtime victory over EMU included one of the more remarkable comebacks I can remember. The RedHawks trailed 45-34 with 2:45 remaining when Quinten Rollins stole the ball and converted a lay-up.
That started a 12-1 run which culminated with Jon Harris hitting a 3-pointer with 17 seconds on the clock, tying the game at 46-46. By the time the RedHawks had run roughshod over the Eagles in the extra period, Miami had outscored EMU over the final eight minutes 28-8.
“We got down late,” Harris said, “but coach (Charlie Coles) was saying we’ve got to fight … to do it the Miami way.”
There were other players involved in the 12-1 run, and the amazing thing is that it happened so quickly.
Rollins was fouled on his lay-up. He missed the free throw, Adam Thomas got the rebound and was fouled by EMU’s Anthony Strickland. The RedHawks weren’t in the bonus yet, so they got the ball, Harris missed a 3-pointer, and Julian Mavunga took the offensive rebound and put it back in.
All this took five seconds.
Thomas scored on a lay-up 27 seconds later, then Brian Sullivan came up with a steal and Harris made 1-of-2 free throws 10 seconds after that.
Then a steal, missed lay-up and foul by Harris enabled EMU’s Darrell Lampley to make 1-of-2 free throws with 1:27 on the clock, giving the Eagles a 46-41 lead.
Rollins scored on a lay-up 11 seconds later, then Mavunga blocked a shot by Lampley, which led to Harris’ game-tying trey.
“I had faith that Jon could make the shot,” said Mavunga, who had the assist. “Give credit to Jon for being man enough to take that shot.”
Especially since Harris, prior to the shot, was 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-2 from the arc.
The big players in the overtime were Thomas, who had two blockbuster slam dunks to account for four of Miami’s first six points, and Mavunga, who scored eight points on free throws over the final 44 seconds.
Coles on Thomas’ dunks: “The only guy we had (recently) who could do that was Antonio Ballard.”
Miami’s defensive performance should not be overlooked. Eastern turned the ball over 19 times with help from Harris (three steals), Rollins (two steals) and Mavunga, Drew McGhee, Will Sullivan and Brian Sullivan (each with one steal).
Mavunga started slowly, but when it counted he was a giant on the court. He grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. He had a career-high eight assists, and three led to 3-point baskets. He played every minute and was strongest over those final eight minutes.
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