Nursing a three-point lead with about three minutes to go, Trey Calvin made two straight steals and forced another turnover in a 58-second span, leading to six straight points in a 92-82 win Tuesday.
Calvin scored on a floater, and Tanner Holden threw down two transition dunks in the flurry. And the youthful RedHawks (they play five freshmen and two sophomores in their 10-man rotation) couldn’t recover.
“We shot 68% and only won by 10. I mean, I don’t know if I’ve ever SEEN that,” coach Scott Nagy said, shaking his head. “That’s obviously a concern as a coach.
“Our defense still has so much work to do. But I thought when we needed to make some plays, we did late in the game. Trey made a couple steals to kind of the seal the thing.”
Tanner Holden flirted with a school record while scoring 27 points on a staggering 13-of-14 shooting.
The best single-game display in Raider history was 11-of-11 showings by Bill Fogt against Cumberland on Jan. 24, 1972, and Sean Hammonds against Ashland on Feb. 28, 1990.
Holden made his first 10 attempts and then had his 11th shot blocked inside.
Brandon Noel had his second double-double of the year with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He had 11 double-doubles last season.
Alex Huibregtse chipped in a season-high 17 points.
And the Raiders didn’t need Calvin to carry them for a change. Averaging 22.4 points, the seventh-best mark in the nation, he had just 11 and went only 4 of 8 from the field.
But he was a pest on defense — coming through in the clutch.
“Our defense wasn’t great,” Noel said, “but it was there late in the game.
“We call those (breakout baskets) pick-sixes like in football. You get a steal and a free layup. That’s something we try to eliminate against us, but when we can get those, it’s really demoralizing for teams.
“It’s just like an instant two points, and there’s nothing you can do about it. It was great to be able to get those for ourselves.”
The RedHawks (4-6) were 27th in the nation in 3-point shooting at 38.5%. And they were simmering most of the game.
They went 5 of 9 in the first half while building a 43-39 lead. And then Darweshi Hunter, Evan Ipsaro and Bryson Bultman swished 3′s in the first 1:38 of the second half to build a 52-43 lead.
But the Raiders (5-6) didn’t get rattled. They went on an 18-2 surge to get in front to stay.
“Whenever a team has made a run against us in the past, we’ve folded and crumbled. But I thought today we stayed together,” Holden said.
The RedHawks had a big edge from 3. They started 8 of 13 and finished 11 of 25, while the Raiders were a mere 2 of 9.
Miami also had a 38-4 advantage in bench points.
Bultman and Bradley Dean had 12 points each. And Anderson Mirambeaux, a preseason second-team All-MAC selection, had 11 in his season debut, but the 6-foot-8, 305-pound senior needed frequent breaks to catch his wind.
The Raiders won their fifth straight in the series, and Nagy improved to 6-2 against Miami.
“They hung around and hung around, but then you get steals by Trey, and it changes the whole game,” Nagy said.
“That’s what we need from him more than anything. Their guards are so young and inexperienced, and how many games have ours been in like that? We just took advantage of it.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
Muskingum at Wright State, 1 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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