No. 21 Miami (Ohio) fends off Eastern Michigan, stays unbeaten
Brant Byers scored 16 points to help lead No. 21 Miami (Ohio) to a 74-64 win at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday in a Mid-American Conference contest.
Miami (28-0, 15-0) kept its perfect season alive, although it was held to less than 80 points for only the sixth time this season. The RedHawks entered the game second in the nation at 92.3 points per game this season.
Antwone Woolfolk scored 14 points, Peter Suder had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Almar Atlason added 12 points for Miami.
The RedHawks prevailed despite cold shooting from 3-point range, making only 5 of 28 (17.9) attempts. Overall, Miami was 28 of 69 (40.6%).
Greg Lawson scored a game-high 29 points for Eastern Michigan (10-19, 4-12), which has lost 10 of its last 11 games.
Eastern Michigan was cold from the field itself, going 21 of 61 (34.4%) from the field overall and 7 of 22 (31.8%) from 3-point range.
Miami seemed to be cruising early in the second half, taking a 50-24 lead with 17:10 remaining.
But Eastern Michigan mounted a stunning rally.
Over a nearly nine-minute span, the Eagles went on a 26-6 run to cut their deficit to 56-50 with 8:17 left.
Miami stemmed the tide a bit, going up 62-52 with 4:16 left after a layup by Suder.
Eastern Michigan got within 64-57 with 2:51 remaining following a 3-pointer by Greg Lawson, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get.
Antoine Woolfolk hit a pair of free throws with 1:23 left that gave Miami a 71-60 lead, then Suder put the game away by making a layup with just under 30 seconds to go.
Miami was humming along nicely on offense in the first half, jumping out to a 20-9 lead with 10:09 left before taking a 43-22 lead into the locker room.
The RedHawks ended the first half on an 11-0 run over a 3 1/2-minute span.