By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

OXFORD - Miami coach Charlie Coles asked his mentor, former Miami coach and athletic director Dick Shrider, to say a few words to the RedHawks before their Mid-American Conference game against Akron on Saturday.

Shrider simply reminded the players about the importance of winning at home in the MAC.

"Basically, he said whatever you do, don't lose at home," senior forward Gene Seals said.

Without junior forward Danny Horace, who was out with a right ankle injury, Miami put together a dominant inside game to knock off the Zips 68-60 at Millett Hall.

Chet Mason scored a team-high 21 points and Juby Johnson added 17 for the RedHawks (6-5, 2-1 MAC). Miami moved into a tie with Marshall for second place in the MAC East Division behind Kent State, the RedHawks' opponent Wednesday at Millett Hall.

Mason and Seals each grabbed 12 rebounds as Miami outrebounded Akron 39-24. Akron (7-4, 1-2 MAC) had been outrebounded just three times previously.

"Miami stayed active on the boards," said Akron coach Dan Hipsher, whose teams have lost five in a row to the RedHawks. "Both of us got each other out of whack on the defensive end, but they got the putbacks to win the game."

Seals, who made his second start in place of Horace, said, "Coach Coles talked about how they've been outrebounding teams and how we haven't been rebounding up to our abilities."

The RedHawks took the lead for good when Tim Schenke muscled his way inside for a layup to give Miami a 13-11 edge with 12:45 left in the first half.

Akron	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Wood	26	2	4	3	6	8	0	4	1	7
Hipsher	28	0	1	0	0	1	5	3	5	0
Futch	18	2	3	0	0	0	0	4	0	4
Tarver	31	11	18	6	6	1	0	2	2	31
Hollingsworth	34	3	7	2	3	3	3	2	2	10
McFadden	22	1	4	0	0	0	1	5	1	3
Collins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joyce	15	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	1	0
Travis	26	2	5	1	2	6	1	2	1	5
Totals	200	21	44	12	17	24	10	26	10	60

Team rebounds - 5.

Miami	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Seals	38	2	9	5	7	12	2	1	0	9
VanderSluis	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0
Hausfeld	34	3	6	0	0	1	1	4	2	8
Mason	34	8	16	5	7	12	3	1	4	21
Johnson	39	6	13	5	7	3	0	4	1	17
Schenke	15	1	2	0	0	0	0	5	1	2
Hatcher	13	2	5	0	0	1	0	1	1	4
St. Clair	14	0	3	2	2	3	0	4	0	2
Peavy	7	1	1	3	3	3	1	1	1	5
Totals	200	23	55	20	26	39	7	22	11	68

Team rebounds - 3.

Akron	28	32	-60
Miami	32	36	-68

3-pointers - A 6-16 (Hipsher 0-1, Tarver 3-6, Hollingsworth 2-3, McFadden 1-4, Joyce 0-2), MU 2-16 (Seals 0-1, Hausfeld 2-4, Mason 0-4, Johnson 0-5, Hatcher 0-2). Technicals - Akron (team). Officials - Drury, Fogarty, Ferrari. Attendance - N/A.