Badin vs. Fredericktown
Miamisburg graduation 2012
Valley View vs. Greenville
Hayes goes berserk in win
Junior scores 14 straight points in second-half spurt en route to another career high in points and a third straight RedHawks victory.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
MUNCIE, Ind. — The Ball State Cardinals tried hard to keep Miami University's Tim Pollitz and Michael Bramos under control Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena. They succeeded with Pollitz and did OK with Bramos.
That left Kenny Hayes roaming around, and the Cardinals were unable to find him, catch him or stop him.
Extras
Lately, nobody has.
Hayes poured in a career-high 27 points to lead the RedHawks over the Cardinals 66-54, Miami's third straight victory and fourth in the last five games.
Hayes has surpassed his career high in three of Miami's last five games.
"They key on Tim inside and me outside," said Bramos, who did score 15 points while knocking down 3-of-5 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. "Kenny is a really good slasher, which gives us another option."
That "option" went berserk midway through the second half. For a span of 3:55, Hayes scored 14 straight points.
That's right. He outscored Ball State and his own teammates 14-0 in perhaps the most dominant second-half spurt by a RedHawk since Juby Johnson scored 31, mostly over the final 20 minutes, in a 59-57 victory at Kent State on March 3, 2004.
"We played hard today," BSU coach Billy Taylor said. "We ran into a very good team. We battled them toe-to-toe. We just had a significant lull."
During that Ball State "lull," Hayes hit a 3-point basket and converted a three-point play and a four-point play (he made four straight free throws after being fouled and after the officials tacked on a technical foul against Rashaun McLemore).
Miami led 60-38 at the end of Hayes' eruption, after which BSU went on a 14-4 run to make the score more respectable.
Tim Pollitz and Eric Pollitz each totaled 10 points and four assists for the RedHawks, and Tyler Dierkers led all rebounders with nine.
Anthony Newell led the Cardinals (3-17, 2-6 Mid-American Conference) with 17 points, but Peyton Stovall managed just three points on 1-of-6 shooting.
"I'm always worried about (Stovall)," Miami coach Charlie Coles said. "I've coached against him many times. I've got a great deal of respect for him. ... For us to do a job on him, or for him to do a job on himself, that was key."
The victory evened Miami's record at 10-10 overall and 4-4 in the MAC.
The RedHawks, having lost four of their first five MAC games, find themselves only two games out of first place thanks to Kent State's 59-56 loss Saturday to Toledo, Miami's next opponent.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197
or pconrad@coxohio.com.
