Miami (OH) survives scare against Western Michigan, still chasing undefeated season

Miami (OH) is still perfect, but not without a scare.

Trey Perry’s layup in the final second lifted the RedHawks to a 69-67 victory over Western Michigan on Friday night, pushing Miami to 29-0 and within two wins of completing an unbeaten regular season.

Perry finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, none bigger than his game-winner after Miami erased a second half deficit in hostile territory. Almar Atlason added 16 points, including 12 after halftime. His four-point play with 3:26 remaining trimmed a five-point deficit to one and ignited the late surge.

The game-winning shot by @MiamiOH_BBall 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/s5xditeiZZ

The RedHawks were heavy favorites entering the night, faced adversity from the start. Western Michigan built an early six-point lead and closed the first half on a 7-0 run. From that point on, things worsened when leading scorer Peter Suder fouled out with 7:03 remaining and Miami trailing 57-50. Suder had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting in just 27 minutes. The Redhawks starting point guard Luke Skaljac also was sidelined by injury.

Miami took the lead back with under two minutes left. From there, the RedHawks leaned on aggressive defensive play. 

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The victory avoided what would have been a damaging Quad 4 loss and kept Miami’s at-large resume intact. Despite an unremarkable non-conference schedule and the perfect Mid-American Conference’s slate, the RedHawks remain the nation’s lone undefeated team.

Miami closes the regular season at home against Toledo (15-13) on March 3 and at Ohio (15-13) on March 6. The RedHawks are seeking to become the first team since Gonzaga in 2021 to finish the regular season unbeaten.

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