By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

Miami had its hottest shooting night of the season in an 80-70 win at Central Michigan on Wednesday, but RedHawks coach Charlie Coles was just as impressed, if not more so, with the contributions of William Hatcher and Monty St. Clair.

Both players came off the bench to set career scoring highs. St. Clair, a 6-foot-9 freshman from Roger Bacon, snapped a shooting slump by going 5-for-6 from the field, including 4-for-5 on 3-pointers, and scoring 14 points. Hatcher, a 6-2 sophomore, was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers on his way to 12 points.

"Something that we've really needed this year is guys coming off the bench and scoring points for us, and Monty St. Clair and William Hatcher gave us that lift off the bench against Central Michigan," Coles said. "They did a great job, and we've got to have our guys coming off the bench continue to make those types of contributions."

If they do, one of them won't be St. Clair. He earned a promotion and is projected to make his second start of the season today in Miami's Mid-American Conference game against Eastern Michigan at Millett Hall.

The improvement shown by St. Clair, who had made just two of his first 20 college shots and was 0-for-7 on 3-pointers going into the Central Michigan game, and the return to health by 6-6 junior forward Danny Horace could allow Coles to deploy his lineup as he had hoped to at the beginning of the season.

The RedHawks have tried four players as their starting high post player, but none had displayed the consistency needed to nail down the job. Horace's ankle injury had kept him out of the starting lineup for the last four games, forcing Coles to use senior Gene Seals, whom the coach considers more valuable coming off the bench.

Miami (8-6, 4-2 MAC), which set season highs with 27 field goals, 12 3-pointers, a 52.3 overall shooting percentage and 57.1 3-point percentage against the Chippewas, returns home to face an Eastern Michigan team that is on a three-game losing streak, including the last two at home. The Eagles (6-8, 1-5) feature two of the league's top four rebounders in 6-9 senior James "Boo" Jackson and 6-8 sophomore John Bowler and a ball-hawking defense that leads the conference with an average of 9.86 steals a game. Junior guard Michael Ross sparks the defense with a MAC-leading average of 2.1 steals a game, but EMU also has trouble holding on to the ball. The Eagles are second-last overall with an average of 18.1 turnovers a game, and they are last in MAC play with an average of 19.8. They committed 20 turnovers in their 85-69 loss to Toledo on Monday.

"We haven't held a tremendous value on protecting the basketball," EMU coach Jim Boone told the Ann Arbor News. "One of the biggest pillars of my program is to take care of the ball."

NOTES: Tipoff times for three games have been changed. The game at Ohio on Feb. 2 has been set at 6:30 p.m. Miami's game at Akron on Feb. 11 will start at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m., and the game at Ball State on Feb. 16 will start at 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

Miami vs. Eastern Michigan

Tipoff: 2 p.m. today, Millett Hall (9,200), Oxford.

Records: Eastern Michigan 6-8 (1-5 Mid-American Conference), Miami 8-6 (4-2).

TV: None.

Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450).

Line: Miami by 12 1/2.

Series: Miami leads 38-19.

EASTERN MICHIGAN

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
John Bowler	So.	6-8	14.1
James Jackson	Sr.	6-9	11.6
Markus Austin	Jr.	6-6	10.8
Michael Ross	Jr.	5-10	7.6
Ricky Cottrill	Sr.	6-3	3.6

Coach: Jim Boone (29-71, fourth season; 302-208 overall).

MIAMI

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Chet Mason	Jr.	6-4	11.4
Josh Hausfeld	So.	6-3	8.5
Juby Johnson	Sr.	6-5	15.6
Gene Seals	Sr.	6-6	5.8
Danny Horace	Jr.	6-6	9.3
OR
Monty St. Clair	Fr.	6-9	1.6

Coach: Charlie Coles (128-99, eighth season; 220-183 overall).