MIAMI BASKETBALL

Luers, Craft lead RedHawks past Cardinals

MU to face Eastern Michigan in MAC tourney opener

By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Friday was Senior Night at Millett Hall, and Miami's only senior made the most of it. Dan Luers scored Miami's first seven points and finished with a total of 18 points as the RedHawks defeated Ball State 79-66. 
Sophomore sharpshooter Kam Craft led MU with 19 points. Fifteen of those points came from beyond the arc, where MU went 13 for 36 on the night. Although that was a modest 36.1 percent, Ball State made just 3 of 21 (14.3 percent) from long distance. 
The Cardinals needed to . . . CONTINUE 

. . . win (and get help) to make next week's eight-team MAC Men's Basketball Tournament field. They finish the campaign at 14-17 overall, 7-11 in MAC play. 
Miami, which won a record 15th straight home game, is a No. 2 seed in the upcoming tourney and will face Eastern Michigan Thursday (4 p.m.) at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The RedHawks jumped on BSU early, taking an 11-0 lead, with Luers doing most of the offensive damage. Even after the Cardinals got untracked, Miami continued build its lead. The hosts were up by 23 with 2:58 left in the period. A fade-away jumper by Luke Skaljac beat the horn and put Miami up 41-23 at intermission.
Craft's triple off the break gave the RedHawks a 55-27 lead (28 points) with 16:51 to play, but Ball State chipped away late to make it a 13-point final. 

NOTES: 
•  Fifteen RedHawks eventually saw action. The bench contributed 39 points. 
Joining Luers and Craft in double figures was Even Ipsaro (10). Reece Potter and Eian Elmore combined for 17 points and 17 rebounds. 
• Jermahri Hill topped Ball State with 18 points. Joey Hart(14) and TJ. Burch followed. 
• The RedHawks broke the program record for most team points scored in a single season.
•  Miami tied the program record for the most regular-season wins in program history (23).
•  The Red and White moved into third all-time in team assists over the course of a season.
•  Miami now sits at fourth all-time in team steals in a season.