HAMILTON — The Miami University Hamilton men’s basketball team is just now getting settled in.
And the timing couldn’t be any better.
The Harriers, ranked fifth and winners of seven out of their last eight, are eyeing a second straight United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II tournament berth.
“We’re playing really good basketball. We’re kind of peaking right now,” said Harriers coach Mike Piatt, who is in his third season at the helm. “Earlier in the year, we were finding our pace and where we fit in.”
Miami-Hamilton (16-7) has found its groove — after starting the season off 2-4 — by using a mixture of balanced ball movement and a stingy defense.
“We want games to be like our practices. We want to play our way,” Piatt said. “We’re very hard to guard. We’re a motion offense team, so everyone goes everywhere on the floor. We post guards all the time, and I think that’s the type of stuff that makes us hard to guard. … We score on everybody, so that’s never been a problem.
“What’s made us better in the last month or so is we got to playing a little more matchup zone, and that’s naturally propelled us.”
Miami-Hamilton averages 75.2 points a game and has scorers across the board, according to Piatt. The Harriers only give up 61 a game.
“But the only stat I care about is a Harriers’ win,” he said. “That is it. I flat out don’t care how we do it.”
Having two all-Americans help.
Junior guard Ryan Marchal (Centerville) buckets a team-high 17.1 points a game, while senior forward Jamison Bradley (Lima Catholic Central) scores 12.9 and pulls down 5.5 rebounds a contest.
“They’re our two leaders,” Piatt said. “We have some nice pieces around them, too. We have great kids — a great group to coach. We share the ball.”
Senior guard King Goss (Twinsburg) averages 9 points a game.
Miami-Hamilton is third-best from 3-point (38%) range and second-best from the free throw (76%) line in the USCAA.
“We’ve got multiple guys scoring in double figures and different leading scorers each game,” Piatt said.
Piatt said the Harriers’ competitive regular season schedule will prep them for postseason action. But MUH would need to receive an at-large bid to get in, like last season, Piatt confirmed.
Miami-Hamilton fell in both of its tournament games a year ago.
“We play a great schedule,” Piatt said, noting his Harriers battled Division I Stony Brook, Division II Ashland and NAIA Thomas More in tough losses.
“We’re looking to get there again,” Piatt said. “We’re doing it one game at a time.”
The Harriers travel to Division III Asbury on Saturday, at 3 p.m.
MIAMI-MIDDLETOWN RANKED 15TH
Miami-Middletown (11-12) is ranked 15th in the USCAA Division II poll and has won six out of its last eight.
Leading the way for the ThunderHawks is guard Lorenzo Sparks, who scores 18.7 points a game — which is 10th in USCAA.
Miami-Hamilton beat Miami-Middletown both times during the regular season. The Harriers came out on top 80-76 at MUH on Nov. 22 and 75-63 at MUM on Wednesday.
The ThunderHawks visit OU Lancaster on Saturday at 3 p.m.
