DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — After their Senior Night hopes were jarred at the last second by a Bowling Green freshman, it looked like the Miami RedHawks were out of breath, out of luck and out of time.

"Me and Mike (Bramos), we couldn't let our team lose," said Miami senior Tyler Dierkers. "We had to find a way to win."

They did, holding off the Falcons 50-45 in overtime Thursday night, March 5, and now the RedHawks are part of a four-way tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division.

Miami (17-11 overall, 10-5 MAC) had taken a 38-37 lead with 31 seconds left in regulation when Dierkers scored off an in-bounds pass from teammate Antoni Ballard. Bramos then gave the RedHawks a three-point cushion by sinking two free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining.

But Scott Thomas, a 6-foot-6 freshman forward, drilled a long 3-point basket with two-tenths of a second remaining to send the game to overtime.

"Our guys got real mad," Miami coach Charlie Coles said. "We got mixed up on our assignments and probably had the wrong combination out there (when Thomas took his shot), and I felt we'd be OK in overtime."

A three-point play by junior center Adam Fletcher gave Miami a five-point cushion early in the extra period, Dierkers made two big defensive stops against Bowling Green's Nate Miller and Bramos sealed the win by sinking five straight free throws down the stretch.

Miami, which is tied for first with Bowling Green (17-12, 10-5 MAC), Buffalo and Akron, was led by Bramos with 23 points and Dierkers, who recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Miami plays at Buffalo on Sunday.

Miami held a 34-25 lead with 10:54 left in the second half, but the Falcons answered with a 14-0 run, holding the RedHawks scoreless for eight and a half minutes. Miami missed 12 straight field goal attempts, but the offensive nosedive finally ended when Bramos was fouled on a 3-point shot (which he missed) and he made two free throws with 1:26 left in the second half.

"We did it on the defensive end," Bowling Green coach Louis Orr said. "Eleven stops in a row. Our guys played with courage and character."

Coles said Miami's offensive shutout came about when Bowling Green switched from a zone to a man-to-man defense.

"It was a great coaching move by Louis Orr," said Coles, adding that he had told his players that the Falcons would not play a man-to-man. "They almost beat us with it."

Miller notched a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Falcons, who would have clinched a share of the East Division title and the No. 1 seed to next week's MAC Tournament with a win over Miami.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.