The Miami University men's basketball team opened Head Coach Charlie Cole's 16th season with a 72-67 overtime victory over the University of Dayton Tuesday night. Senior forward Julian Mavunga led the team with a huge second-half performance with 17 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

"I think I started from the outside in," Mavunga said. "Once I got an inside basket, I got going. Plus, I have great teammates and they helped me throughout the game."

Miami started out slow offensively, shooting just 33 percent in the first half, but the RedHawks were kept afloat by some of the new faces on the team. Freshman Brian Sullivan led the team with a 10 point first half and finished with 14 on the night, including making four three-point shots.

"I was a little nervous in the scrimmage, but in this game, I just wanted to come out and put on a solid performance and knock down the open shot," Sullivan said.

Sophomore Bill Edwards, a transfer from Penn State University who had to sit out last season, played a key role for the 'Hawks as well. In his first game as a member of the team, Edwards had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and played extremely well off the bench with Sullivan. Sophomore guard Josh Sewell also contributed 10 points and was the Red and White's fourth double-digit scorer.

Coles pointed to the team's effort defensively as the main reason that Miami was able to stay in the game early, despite the off shooting night. Dayton's leading scorer from last season, junior forward Josh Benson, who averaged 21 points per game last season, was held to eight points and only six shots. Miami also forced the Flyers to commit 22 turnovers.

"I didn't have any idea what the outcome would be because of the make-up of our team this year," Coles said. "We needed a great effort and energy was one thing I thought that we could give."

The RedHawks were down 30-28 at the half, at which point they only had 10 points in the paint. Miami began to shoot better as the inside game began to develop. Mavunga had eight points in the second half, including many clutch free throws.

Neither team was able to pull away in the second half, as the score was deadlocked on 10 separate occasions as each team wasn't able to hold a lead more than five points. The squads were tied 59-59 at the end of regulation. Miami was able to break away from Dayton in the overtime period with clutch play on both sides of the ball.

Mavunga again led the team late with seven points, including a huge pull-up three to put the team ahead by five late. Sophomore forward Jon Harris, who started and had seven points on the night, iced the game with two free throws with 17 seconds remaining. Coles also mentioned sophomore guard Quinten Rollins who, despite coming in cold off the bench due to foul trouble, made a lot of big plays for the team with a basket and defense in overtime.

The team continues their season Friday when they travel to Cincinnati to take on nationally ranked Xavier University. The RedHawks edged out the Musketeers last season at Millett Hall in a thrilling 75-64 victory.

"We beat them last season and it was a great victory for us," Mavunga said. "We look forward to playing them Friday."