DaytonDailyNews.com

CLEVELAND — The Miami RedHawks are feeling an overwhelming sense of relief, from what has happened both on and off the basketball court.

Minutes after the RedHawks rallied from a nine-point, second-half deficit to beat 12th-seeded Buffalo 69-68 on Wednesday, March 12 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament, interim head coach Jermaine Henderson said the team was relieved that head coach Charlie Coles' heart surgery the day before was a success.

"We're certainly glad that he took himself to the hospital to get checked out," Henderson added, explaining that Coles did not suffer a heart attack or have cardiac arrest. "I talked to the surgeon and I couldn't get a grasp of all the things they did, but he's going to be as good as new."

The RedHawks' victory, which propels them into the quarterfinals tonight against the Ohio Bobcats, was far from pretty. But there were some good moments at Quicken Loans Arena.

There was senior forward Tim Pollitz swerving left, then right, then left, and finally scoring a key basket with 2:01 left by sheer determination.

Tyler Dierkers and Michael Bramos both sank 2-of-2 free throws under pressure in the final minute.

And Pollitz sealed the victory by calmly swishing two foul shots with 2.9 seconds left — a good thing since Buffalo's Rodney Pierce drilled a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Buffalo led by as many as 10 in the first half after outscoring Miami 26-8 during an 11-minute span.

"We were getting frustrated ... they were playing a lot harder than us from the get-go," Pollitz said. "We had to come back in the second half and match that," he said. "I think we did a real good job of playing more aggressive."

Bramos led Miami (16-14) with a game-high 23 points and blocked three shots, Pollitz added 20 points and four assists and Kenny Hayes scored 11. Pierce scored 16 points for the Bulls (10-20).

Miami won despite being out-rebounded 44-25. Calvin Betts and Max Boudreau came off the bench for the Bulls and dominated the boards for much of the contest.

"They're real physical down low," Bramos said. "Usually you don't win games like that, but we just had to stick it out."