2008 Woodie Awards
RedHawks upset Musketeers
Miami U. opens 2007-08 season coming from behind to beat Xavier 59-57 at Millett Hall
Dan Kukla
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Sports
Three free throws by Miami University's Michael Bramos and a big defensive stand on the other end of the court with just six seconds left in the game sealed the win for the RedHawks against the Xavier University Musketeers Tuesday night.
Coming back from an 11-point halftime deficit against the No. 28 team in the country, pandemonium struck Millett Hall as time ran out and students rushed the court to celebrate. After the game, Bramos credited the astounding finish to the fans.
"I thought our crowd was huge tonight," Bramos said. "They were really loud the whole game even when we were down. We got down 11 but they stuck with us the whole time. I think part of this victory goes to them too because we really fed off their energy tonight."
Counting down the final minutes, the outlook was looking bleak for Miami after junior guard C.J. Anderson hit two free throws for Xavier to put the Musketeers up 57-56 with 35 seconds left in the game. Yet Miami stayed cool under pressure and adjusted to the difficulties on the fly.
After several failed attempts to get the ball inside to senior forward Tim Pollitz, Bramos was able to get open on the right wing for the potential game-winning 3-point shot. It was there, from
almost the exact spot that Doug Penno drained his infamous 3-pointer that sent the RedHawks on to a MAC Championship, that Bramos was fouled by Jason Love. He went to the line, calmly knocked down all three foul shots and gave Miami a shocking win against its favored rival.
The dramatic finish overshadowed a poor performance by the RedHawks in the first half. They struggled considerably on offense, scoring a mere 21 points while shooting less than 35 percent from the floor. The defense didn't look much better as the Musketeers were able to exploit Miami's lack of a dominant big man down low by scoring the majority of their points in the paint. Both Adam Fletcher and Tyler Dierkers, Miami's two big guys, failed to record a rebound in the first half.
Coming back from an 11-point halftime deficit against the No. 28 team in the country, pandemonium struck Millett Hall as time ran out and students rushed the court to celebrate. After the game, Bramos credited the astounding finish to the fans.
"I thought our crowd was huge tonight," Bramos said. "They were really loud the whole game even when we were down. We got down 11 but they stuck with us the whole time. I think part of this victory goes to them too because we really fed off their energy tonight."
Counting down the final minutes, the outlook was looking bleak for Miami after junior guard C.J. Anderson hit two free throws for Xavier to put the Musketeers up 57-56 with 35 seconds left in the game. Yet Miami stayed cool under pressure and adjusted to the difficulties on the fly.
After several failed attempts to get the ball inside to senior forward Tim Pollitz, Bramos was able to get open on the right wing for the potential game-winning 3-point shot. It was there, from
almost the exact spot that Doug Penno drained his infamous 3-pointer that sent the RedHawks on to a MAC Championship, that Bramos was fouled by Jason Love. He went to the line, calmly knocked down all three foul shots and gave Miami a shocking win against its favored rival.
The dramatic finish overshadowed a poor performance by the RedHawks in the first half. They struggled considerably on offense, scoring a mere 21 points while shooting less than 35 percent from the floor. The defense didn't look much better as the Musketeers were able to exploit Miami's lack of a dominant big man down low by scoring the majority of their points in the paint. Both Adam Fletcher and Tyler Dierkers, Miami's two big guys, failed to record a rebound in the first half.
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