Thursday, February 10, 2000
Miami 71, Akron 60
Redhawks end 3-game losing streak
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
OXFORD — Miami University isn't going to win the Mid-American Conference this year. Akron very possibly could.
But when those two teams have shared the floor this season, the RedHawks clearly have been the superior team. Miami completed the regular-season sweep of the Zips with a 71-60 victory Wednesday night before 2,368 at Millett Hall.
Akron (16-7, 10-4) came in tied for first in the MAC East. But Miami (11-10, 7-6) led from start to finish and was never challenged after opening a 14-point lead five minutes into the second half.
The RedHawks came into the game on three-game losing streak.
“It's very, very big for us to beat Akron twice,” MU coach Charlie Coles said. “We spent a week trying to sort things out.”
The RedHawks, who beat Akron 55-48 on Jan.15 at Akron, got big games from several players:
• Miami's backcourt of Anthony Taylor (17 points) and Rob Mestas (13) outscored their Akron all-MAC counterparts, Jami Bosley and Jimmal Ball, 30 to 21. Taylor and Mestas each played all 40 minutes.
Ball had 13 points. Bosley, Akron's leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, was 1-for-10 from the field and scored eight points.
Mestas was responsible for the defensive effort on Bosley. “Rob did a marvelous job,” Coles said. “You don't do that to Bosley.”
• Rich Allendorf had a career-high 12 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
• Jason Stewart scored 11 points. Stewart took only one 3-pointer (he made it), instead going aggressively to the basket.
• Miami outshot Akron 50 percent to 40 percent from the field and outrebounded the Zips 35-27. Refiloe Lethunya led Miami with 10 boards.
Allendorf, a 6-foot-10 junior from St.Xavier High, was a factor in the middle, something that often has been missing this season.
“Coach has been talking about someone stepping up, especially a big man,” said Allendorf, who was 6-of-9 from the field. “I'm glad to get the win. We needed it.”
A loss would have been Miami's fourth in a row, and a Miami team hasn't lost four straight since 1991. Akron isn't the MAC team you want to try to break a skid against this year.
“(Akron's) a good team,” Mestas said. “They come in and look at our record and don't realize we're a good team. We've just been in slump.”
Part of the reason for the slump was Jason Grunkemeyer, who had missed the last two games with a herniated disc. He returned Wednesday and scored five points. Each of his two field goals were big ones.
“He does make a big difference for us,” Coles said.
The RedHawks led from the start. The key was forcing the Zips, who came in averaging 78.1 points a game, to play at Miami's pace.
The RedHawks opened a 27-14 lead with 5:40 left in the half, thanks to a 12-3 run. Allendorf started the run with his second 3-point play off an offensive rebound.
“Rich was big tonight,” Mestas said. “If he's a presence in the post, it opens things up.”
Akron started 5-for-20 from the field. But the Zips heated up and went 4-of-5 from the field to score 12 unanswered points.
That made it 27-26 with 2:12 to go.
The teams exchanged baskets from there. Fortunately for Miami, the RedHawks got the last possession of the half, and Mestas hit an off-balance shot from just past halfcourt as the buzzer sounded to give Miami a 34-30 lead at the break.
It may have had a carry-over effect, because the RedHawks came out smoking in the second half. They hit 10 of 13 from the field to start the half, pushing the lead to 59-45 with 8:29 left in the game. Akron never cut the deficit to single digits again.
“This was a confidence builder,” Taylor said of the Akron win. “We played our hardest. It was a total-team effort. If we play like that against Bowling Green, we'll be OK.”
AKRON (60)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Phillips 24 1-5 0-0 0-2 1 3 2
Andrick 31 2-8 9-11 2-6 0 4 13
Morgan 16 1-2 0-2 1-4 0 2 2
Ball 34 6-11 0-2 2-3 3 2 13
Bosley 33 1-10 6-6 2-6 4 4 8
Schindewolf 13 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 2
Carson 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 3
Hipsher 24 4-6 1-2 0-0 1 2 9
Falknor 14 3-4 0-0 2-3 0 0 8
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 20-49 16-23 9-25 10 17 60
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.408, FT-.696. 3-Point Goals:
4-11, .364 (Phillips 0-2, Andrick 0-1, Ball 1-1,
Bosley 0-2, Schindewolf 0-1, Carson 1-1, Falknor
2-3). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 3
(Phillips 2, Morgan). Turnovers: 9 (Bosley 2,
Morgan 2, Phillips 2, Andrick, Ball, Hipsher).
Steals: 8 (Ball 3, Phillips 2, Bosley, Carson,
Hipsher).
MIAMI (71)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Stewart 30 5-8 0-0 0-5 1 2 11
Lethunya 33 2-5 3-6 5-10 0 3 7
Allendorf 30 5-9 2-2 3-6 0 2 12
Mestas 40 4-8 3-6 1-2 4 2 13
Taylor 40 6-14 4-4 1-6 2 1 17
Grunkemeyer 11 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 4 5
Reed 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Ensminger 15 2-4 2-2 2-5 0 2 6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-52 14-20 12-34 7 17 71
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.700. 3-Point Goals:
5-9, .556 (Stewart 1-1, Mestas 2-3, Taylor 1-3,
Grunkemeyer 1-2). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked
shots: 2 (Allendorf 2). Turnovers: 12 (Mestas 4,
Taylor 4, Lethunya 2, Grunkemeyer, Stewart).
Steals: 2 (Mestas 2).
__________________________________
Akron 30 30 - 60
Miami 34 37 - 71
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 2,368. Officials:
Randy Drury, Jerry Sauder, Mark Masariu.
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