OXFORD, Ohio-- After mounting a furious comeback to send the game into overtime, a pair of electrifying dunks put an exclamation mark on a 62-57 Miami victory over Eastern Michigan Wednesday night at Millett Hall. Senior forward Julian Mavunga nearly registered a triple-double, leading the way with 19 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists.
Mavunga's double-double was his third straight, 12th of the season and the 26th of his career. The 19 rebounds and eight assists are also new career-highs. Sophomore guard Quinten Rollins was the only other RedHawk in double figures, registering 10 points.
Eastern Michigan (10-12, 5-3) led by 11, 45-34, with 3:28 left after a 5-0 run, but from there it was all RedHawks. Rollins and Mavunga knocked down another layup each and senior forward Adam Thomas added one of his own to bring the RedHawks within five, 45-40. With about a minute left, Rollins drove to the hoop and laid one in to bring Miami within three, 46-43. Sophomore forward Jon Harris then drilled a trey with 18 seconds left on the clock to tie the game at 46-46 and send the game into overtime and the Millett Hall crowd into a frenzy. A clutch defensive stop by the RedHawks ended regulation, assuring Miami overtime for the first time since its opening night victory over Dayton.
The Eagles got things started with a jumper from Da'Shonte Riley, but the RedHawks answered back with authority on a put-back dunk from Thomas. Two shots from the charity stripe for Brian Sullivan gave Miami a 50-48 lead, its first since the first half. An alley-oop from Mavunga to Thomas with about 90 seconds left on the clock brought the fans to their feet, and a thunderous dunk from Rollins sealed the deal for the RedHawks.
Eastern Michigan had jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and held Miami scoreless for the first three minutes of the game, but back-to-back layups from sophomore center Drew McGhee cut the lead to one point, 5-4. Two layups from the Eagles restored their five-point lead, 9-4, until another basket from McGhee made it 9-6. The shot from McGhee ended a Miami scoring drought of just over three minutes.
A jumper from Eastern Michigan's Darrell Lampley at the 10:56 mark to make the score 11-6 were the last points scored for nearly three and a half minutes, when a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Josh Sewell made it 11-9. The points were Miami's first in over four minutes. Sewell answered right back two possessions later with another trey to give the RedHawks their first lead of the game, 12-11. The Eagles then ended a scoring drought of their own to take the lead, 13-12 with just under five minutes left in the half.
Rollins laid one in and Mavunga knocked down four free throws to help Miami take a five-point lead, making the score 18-13 with 90 seconds until halftime. Both teams traded 3-pointers, freshman guard Brian Sullivan hitting one for the RedHawks, and Mavunga hit another freebie to take the Miami lead to six points, its largest of the game to that point. It didn't last long, as Eastern Michigan's Derek Thompson hit a desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer, making the halftime score 22-19 in favor of Miami.
The first half featured streaky shooting from both sides, with the RedHawks incurring three scoring droughts of three minutes or longer and the Eagles suffering through a six-minute drought midway through the half. Miami's lead could be attributed to its disciplined play, only registering three fouls and never sending Eastern Michigan to the charity stripe. In contrast, the Eagles committed 11 fouls which led to seven Miami free throw attempts.
The Eagles started the second half stronger than they did the first, this time jumping out to a 11-0 scoring run and retaking the lead, 30-22. Brian Sullivan busted the RedHawks' scoring slump with a 3-pointer, however, and made the score 30-25 with 14:22 remaining. Those were the first Miami points of the second half. After the Sullivan trey, the Eagles tore off another scoring run, this one 8-3, to take a 38-28 lead at the 8:20 mark. Including its buzzer-beater to end the first half, the run for Eastern Michigan totaled 22-6.
The next game for Miami is Saturday Feb. 4 when it hits the road for Muncie, Ind. to take on Ball State at 4 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Miami has now won 16 straight overall against Eastern Michigan, including 10 straight in Oxford... Through the first 37:21 of play, Miami scored 34 points. In the final 2:39 of regulation and overtime, the RedHawks tallied 28 points... Both teams were hindered by scoreless stretches of over five minutes in the opening half. Miami did not score from the 12:51 to 7:22 marks, while Eastern Michigan had no points from 10:56 to 4:54... Mavunga's 19 rebounds topped his previous-best of 18 vs. Akron in the 2011 MAC Tournament (March 10)... He previously had seven assists on three occasions.
