OXFORD, Ohio -- The Midway University men's basketball team played their first of three exhibitions for the 2018-19 season against NCAA Division I teams on Monday night when they traveled to Oxford, Ohio to take on Miami University (Ohio) in Millett Hall.
The combination of a hot shooting night from the RedHawks and a cold shooting night from the visitors was enough to do the Eagles in as the RedHawks would cruise to the 91-42 victory.
The Eagles (3-2) finished the night shooting just 26.2 percent (16-61), while the RedHawks shot a scorching 56.3 percent (36-64) from the floor. Miami also forced the Eagles into 21 turnovers which turned into 30 points on the offensive end.
The RedHawks looked like they were going to stretch their lead out when they held a seven-point edge just five minutes into the game. The Eagles, however, kept it close and responded with a run of their own.
A free throw from Gerry Milligan (West Palm Beach, Fla.) as well as back-to-back jumpers from Kwon Evans (Louisville, Ky.) and Jason Gammage (Riverside, Calif.) cut the lead back down to 14-12 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the opening frame.
Miami, however, responded with a 20-2 run to stretch the lead to its largest of the game at the time at 34-14 with 8:11 left in the first half. Midway once again responded to the run, this time it was an 8-2 spurt that cut the deficit to 36-22 with 5:17 left.
A triple from Kaleb Britt (Bowling Green, Ky.) started the run before Evans slammed home a dunk. Just a few seconds later, Evans found an open Luke Thorburg (St. Louis, Mo.) who drained an open trey from the right wing to cut the deficit to 36-22.
Unfortunately for Midway, they would only score three points over a span of the next 15 minutes where the home team outscored the visitors 37-3 en route to the 91-42 victory.
Leading the way for the Eagles was Kaleb Britt. The junior guard finished with 10 points in a losing effort. Jose Bustamante (Surprise, Ariz.) added nine points and nine rebounds, while Kwon Evans chipped in with eight points. Gerry Milligan also dished out four dimes.
The RedHawks were led by Nike Sibande who led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting overall. Dalonte Brown added 18 points, while two others had nine points apiece.
Midway will play their second exhibition in as many nights on Tuesday when they travel to Richmond, Ky. to take on Eastern Kentucky University at 7 p.m. ET in McBrayer Arena. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be found here.
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