By Tricia Cherry —
Recently, the Miami Harriers basketball teams took on the Andrews University Cardinals on their home floor. This event was originally meant to take place in the Hamilton campus gymnasium. However, given the recent winter weather, a leak in the roof of the Hamilton Gymnasium was detected, and the threat of ponding water posed a risk to players.
After some discussion, the game was moved to Miami’s Middletown campus. It was delayed for around an hour as athletes, officials, and audience members alike made the journey from Hamilton to Middletown, usually home of the Thunderbirds.
The men’s game was scheduled for 3:00 pm, but began at 4:10. The Harriers struggled in the beginning, but found their footing within the first quarter of the game. After this minor stumble, the Harriers kept up a respectable advantage against the Cardinals. The score at halftime was 40-34, in favor of our home team.
Over the course of the game, two players in particular were on an impressive streak: Kaleb Wanamaker (#3), a junior from Toledo Start High School; and Aaron Davis (#5), a senior from Cincinnati Woodward High School. Wanamaker in particular seemed to gain favor with the crowd in the second half.
The Miami Harriers ended up coming away with the victory, with a final score of 90-55. The winning shot was made by Shaeden Olden.
On the afternoon of the following day, with everyone rested, Coach Mike Piatt was gracious enough to respond to a handful of questions about the previous night’s game:
Pulse: How confident were you that the team would win?
Piatt: It’s hard to win, so we never take it for granted, and I felt if we played our way, which we did in the second half, really executed, that we’d have a good chance of winning the game, and we played really well in the second half.
Pulse: What part of your training do you think was most beneficial?
Piatt: I think we’re really good defensively. When you can stop people from scoring, it really helps to win. We’re the number one team defense in the country right now.
Pulse: How do you keep the team motivated?
Piatt: We’re trying to get back to the USCCA National Tournament for the fifth year in a row. In the past four years, we’ve been pretty good; we’ve won eighty games and lost thirty-seven. We’ve had two Elite Eight [appearances] and we’re fortunate to be national champions. We want to get back to the national tournament for the fifth time. That’s definitely got us motivated.
The Miami Harriers would like to extend their thanks to the Middletown campus for their last-minute accommodation.
Leave a Reply