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Roberts' trey stuns RedHawks

Senior's long-range basket completes UD's comeback from a 21-point deficit; MU's Bramos finishes with 36.

By Doug Harris

Staff Writer

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Brian Roberts had a bad feeling when the ball left his hands, thinking his shot might fall a little short.

Teammate Chris Wright, though, had no doubts.

Extras

"I knew it was going down," Wright said. "I was right under the rim, and I know B-Rob's shot. I knew it was gonna get over the lip.

"I've seen him shoot a countless number of shots in practice, and that's how he does it."

Roberts swished a 3-pointer with four seconds left, pulling Dayton off a coroner's slab and leading an improbable 63-62 comeback victory over Miami before 5,234 fans here Wednesday night.

The Flyers (4-1) trailed by 21 in the first half and looked all but finished when the RedHawks (3-2) led by eight with 1:11 to go. But Roberts scored 12 of his 20 points in the final 1:04, and UD took advantage of some errant Miami free-throw shooting.

Michael Bramos, who drilled 9-of-15 3-point tries and had a game-high 36 points, made just one of two freebies with 13 seconds left to give Miami a 62-60 lead. With UD out of timeouts, Roberts dribbled down the right side, drifted to his left and connected on the biggest shot of his career.

Bramos missed a 35-foot heave at the buzzer, and the Flyers rushed together in a jubilant scrum to celebrate only their second victory in Millett Hall in 20 years.

"This is a huge win for us," an emotional Roberts said afterward. "Coach always talks about playing hard and playing with heart and playing like grown men — and we did that."

The senior guard added: "I can't explain how good this feels."

The Flyers shot just 30.4 percent in the first half (7 of 23) and had more turnovers (nine) than field goals, but they scored 45 after the break. Sophomore center Kurt Huelsman had a career-high 14 points, while Wright added 12.

Miami coach Charlie Coles was chagrined the RedHawks let Roberts roam free in the final seconds.

"If I had it to do over again," he said, "I would have doubled Roberts coming down the floor and made him give it up and took our chances with one of the other guys."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or at dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com

By the numbers

21-Miami's biggest lead at 30-9 with 6:32 left before halftime

14-Career-high points by Kurt Huelsman, who had three total in UD's first four games

12-Points scored in the final 1:04 by Brian Roberts, who had 20

11-Minutes both teams went through in which they made just one field goal


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