OxfordPress.com

PHILADELPHIA — The Miami University basketball team showed no signs of road fatigue Wednesday, Dec. 3, in what coach Charlie Coles called "our best game of the year all-around."

Senior forward Michael Bramos scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as the RedHawks, playing their sixth straight game away from Millett Hall, won a decisive 68-52 victory over the Temple Owls.

"We played both ends of the court tonight," said Coles, whose team evened its record at 3-3. "It was a total team victory."

It was a big night for the Miami offense, which shot 52.1 percent from the field, including 60.9 percent in the second half, and which finished with 18 assists and only nine turnovers.

It was an even more impressive night for Miami's defense. A Liacouras Center crowd of 5,029 watched Temple's leading player, 6-foot-5 senior guard Dionte Christmas, manage just 11 points after taking a 24-point scoring average into the contest.

"Eric (Pollitz) turned in a phenomenal defensive job," Coles said, noting that Pollitz, Bramos and Antonio Ballard all guarded Christmas, who hit three of his first four field goal attempts — all from 3-point range — and then went 0-for-8 the rest of the night.

Bramos, who made 6-of-10 shots from the 3-point arc, said the victory was "big, especially coming off this road trip. We had some tough losses, but I think those past games helped us in this game. We got some stops when we needed them."

The RedHawks had close losses at UCLA (64-59) and Xavier (60-53). They will play their home opener Saturday, Dec. 6 against Northwestern State.

Kenny Hayes added 17 points and six assists for Miami and Tyler Dierkers contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.

Temple (3-3) was led by Sergio Olmos with 12 points and five rebounds.

Miami led 28-22 at halftime with the help of back-to-back 3-point baskets by Nick Winbush, who finished with eight points (all in the first half) and five rebounds off the bench.