RedHawks lose fight against Falcons

Bowling Green’s  17-2 second-half run sinks Miami.

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 1:36 AM Thursday, January 19, 2012

OXFORD — One of the worst six-minute stretches of Miami University’s basketball season began with a pair of good plays, a steal by Quinten Rollins and a tip-in by Josh Sewell.

It all went downhill from there for the RedHawks in a 65-57 loss to the Bowling Green Falcons at Millett Hall on Wednesday night.

“They’ve got experience, let’s face it,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said of the Falcons, who start two seniors and two juniors. “They took our kids to task. We lost our fight in the second half.”

Junior guard Jordon Crawford scored a career-high 25 points and senior forward Scott Thomas tied a school record with eight steals for the Falcons, who improved to 8-9, 2-2 in the Mid-American Conference.

A 17-2 run by the Falcons midway through the final 20 minutes turned a 40-38 Miami lead into a 55-42 deficit.

Coles said the culprit was turnovers. Senior forward Julian Mavunga said it was poor shot selection.

Both were right.

During the horrible half-dozen minutes Miami took seven shots, six on jumpers. All six missed.

“In those next couple of possessions (after Sewell’s basket) we all got jump-shot happy,” said Mavunga, who led Miami with 17 points and seven assists. “When that happened, they went right back to their zone, and from there on out we didn’t play well against their zone.

“We also felt like our effort just wasn’t there,” he added. “We didn’t have the energy we had at times in the first half.”

Miami (5-11, 1-3 MAC) also committed six turnovers during the 17-2 run.

“We played good basketball, but then we started turning the ball over,” Coles said. “When we came unglued, that’s when they set their game in action. They put it to us (on defense).”

The lead changed hands 13 times. Miami took a 28-24 halftime advantage when Sewell drilled a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds on the clock.

Thomas came within two steals of a triple-double for the Falcons, also finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or Pete.Conrad@coxinc.com.

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