The Falcon men’s basketball team defeated the Miami RedHawks 81-70 on Tuesday night, fueled by a second half in which the Falcons outscored the RedHawks 51-31.
“I always preach about the defense and how important that is,” Falcons head coach Michael Huger said. “We can get a stop, but it’s not complete until we come away with that rebound. So that’s what we talked about at the half: getting stops at the other end and being able to run out in transition. That’s what we were able to do. In the second half especially we were able to just control (Darrian) Ringo. Ringo got off real big against us the first game, and we wanted to do a good job of controlling him. I think we did that, especially in the second half.”
Offensively and defensively the Falcons were lead by junior forward Demajeo Wiggins once again, who gained his fourth straight game with a double-double. Wiggins finished the game with a stat line of 22 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. Those 22 points came on shooting an efficient eight of nine from the field. Wiggins also played 36 of a possible 40 minutes in this game.
“I thought he was going to get a triple-double,” Huger said. “He was only five (assists) away. I am going to go talk to the team about not helping him get that triple-double, and they missed a couple shots that could have been an assist on his part. He did a great job; we played very well. A couple weeks ago, I challenged him to be able to get a double-double for the rest of the season, and so far he is holding up his end of the bargain. I want that to continue throughout the rest of the season; he’s been playing great. He’s been playing with much more energy on the defense end, and that’s helped his offense so I want that to continue.”
Helping Wiggins on offense was sophomore guard Dylan Frye who scored 16 points.
Freshman guard Daeqwon Plowden, who has been gaining more playing time as the season rolls on, scored 10 points in 11 minutes.
Next the Falcons take on the Central Michigan Chippewas at home on Saturday afternoon.
