Sports
OXFORD — It has been suggested that Miami University basketball teams coached by Charlie Coles have a hard time catching up quickly, that his RedHawks are too used to playing chicken with the 35-second shot clock.
You know, let’s see how close we can get it to zero this time.
It turns out the RedHawks can get it up and down the court when they have to, and on Saturday they had to.
Miami erased a nine-point deficit in just 45 seconds and went on to beat the Troy Trojans 80-73, ending the game with an 18-2 run on Saturday at Millett Hall.
“I love that type of game,” said Miami sophomore Orlando Williams, who sparked the RedHawks’ late barrage by drilling back-to-back 3-point baskets after Troy had taken a 71-62 lead with 5:20 remaining.
Freshman point guard Quinten Rollins added a third straight Miami 3-pointer at the 3:25 mark and suddenly the score was tied.
The Trojans regained the lead briefly, but Miami scored the game’s last nine points to send the 1,909 fans home happy.
They had just seen the RedHawks reach the .500 mark (5-5) after scoring a season-high in points for the third time in the last four games.
Coles said he knows there are fans who are angry about a team that “only scores 54 points. Well, we scored 80, and it felt good.
“I actually enjoyed the game,” he said. “In the final four minutes we get a stop and then we’re in the ball game, and we made big shots. Our guys found a rhythm.”
Williams, who scored half of Miami’s 18 points during that late run, finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range and scored a season-high 16 points.
Julian Mavunga also scored 16 points for the RedHawks and added nine rebounds.
Antonio Ballard recorded a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and a team-high five assists, Rollins scored a career-high 12 points and Nick Winbush also had 12.
Troy (1-7) led by as many as 12 points in the first half.
“That team was up and down (the court), up and down,” Ballard said, “the fastest transition team we’ve played against.”
The Trojans also launched 20 shots from the 3-point arc in the first half and made 10 of them. They led at the break 44-40.
“The way they played in the first half,” Ballard said, “we talked together in the locker room at halftime and said there’s no way they can keep that up in the second half.”
Shawntez Patterson and Will Weathers led Troy with 15 points apiece. Bernard Toombs added 12 points and 10 rebounds, all in the first half.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
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