MIDWAY, Ky. -- After a tough win against Brescia (Ky.) just 48 hours prior, the Midway men's basketball team returned to Marshall Gymnasium on Thursday (Jan. 20) when they hosted IU Southeast (Ind.) for a River States Conference West Division matchup.

Trailing by two with under a minute to play, Donnie Miller got a crucial old fashioned three-point play to give his team the lead for good. Following a stop on the defensive end, the sophomore from Newport, Ky. hit a pair at the charity stripe to help seal the 71-68 victory.

With the win, Joe Krupinski's squad improves to 10-5 overall and gets to .500 in league play at 4-4 as they move into third place in the RSC West Division. IU Southeast, meanwhile, slides to fourth in the West Division with a 6-14 mark overall and a 4-5 record in conference action.

Neither team held a lead of more than six points throughout as the game featured nine ties and 10 different lead changes. The first half features six ties and seven lead changes, while the final five minutes of the contest featured three ties and three lead changes.

IU Southeast would lead by as many as six on three different occasions in the second half as they got a three-point play from Jared Osbourne to tie their largest lead of the contest at 57-51 with 6:45 remaining in regulation.

Raekwon Evans (Louisville, Ky.) matched Osbourne's three-point play with one of his own before Miller knocked down a trey on the next possession tying the game at 59 with 5:03 left.

A three-point play by Ahmad Price followed by a long trey from Jared Osbourne with 4:04 left gave the Grenadiers a 65-61 advantage. Over the final 4:04 of regulation, the Eagles clamped down on the defensive end and held the visitors without a field goal following Osbourne's trey.

The final four minutes of regulation saw the Grenadiers go 0-5 from the floor as they scored just three points all coming from the charity stripe.

A pair of freebies by Miller cut the deficit in half before Cory Gardner (Owensboro, Ky.) connected on his second triple of the game to give Midway a brief 66-65 lead with 2:03 left.

Osbourne then went 3-of-4 from the free throw line as IU Southeast regained the 68-66 lead with under a minute to play. With 37 seconds left, Miller drove to the basket and tied the game on a layup before converting the and-one to give his team the lead for good.

After getting back-to-back stops on the defensive end, Miller received the ensuing inbound and knocked down two more to push Midway's lead to 71-68 with five seconds left. Osbourne got a three off at the buzzer, but his shot was off the mark as the Eagles held on for the 71-68 victory.

Donnie Miller led the way for the Blue and Gold with 18 points hitting 3-of-6 from three, while Raekwon Evans added 17 points battling foul trouble throughout the contest. Midway held a 23-0 edge in bench points led by 14 points from Cory Gardner.

Rico Tate (Memphis, Tenn.) turned in one his best performances of the season as he scored eight points, while pulling down a season-high eight rebounds. Izaya Sims (East Moline, Ill.) also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to help Midway win the rebounding battle 38-36.

Midway finished the contest shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, while they hit 7-of-18 from three for 38.9 percent. IU Southeast, meanwhile, shot 38.3 percent overall and 30 percent from three.

Midway is scheduled to continue their five-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 22) when they host RSC East Division foe IU East (Ind.) at 1 p.m. ET inside Marshall Gymnasium.

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