The men's basketball program at Shawnee State will take a detour from regular season competition as the Bears, fresh off five wins in as many bouts to start the 2019 season, will face NCAA Division I opponent Miami (Ohio) in an exhibition contest that will be held at Millett Hall in Oxford.
The game will be broadcasted through live audio feed via https://portal.stretchinternet.com/shawneest/.
Shawnee State, who will be playing Miami for the first time in program history, enters the contest having won each of its first five bouts by 19 points or more, including an 80-61 victory over West Virginia Tech, who received votes in the NAIA Division II Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Bears, through five games in the 2019-20 season, have been led by Kyree Elder's 18.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, three assists and 1.9 steals per contest. Elder, a senior from Antioch, Tenn., leads the team in scoring and rebounding and is tied for second on the SSU unit in steals while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor. Justin Johnson's 13.2 points, seven rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game on 59.5 percent shooting, along with EJ Onu's 11.4 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks per game on 53.2 percent shooting, have also been critical for Shawnee State.
Throughout the first five games of the year, eight players are averaging at least seven points or more for the Bears, including Elder, Johnson, Onu, Tim Biakapia, Selby Hind-Wills, Desmond Crosby, Jr., Kobie Johnson, and D'Andre Price. Jakiel Wells, who has started in each of the Bears' first five games as a true freshman, is averaging 5.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and four assists per game for Shawnee State.
Miami, who finished 16-18 in 2017-18 and 15-17 in 2018-19, have posted a 15-21 overall record in Mid-American Conference (MAC) action over each of the past two seasons. The RedHawks bring back Third-Team All-MAC honoree Nike Sibande, who averaged 16.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per night as a sophomore.
Jack Owens, who is in his third season coaching the Miami basketball program, previously served as an assistant coach under Matt Painter at Purdue for nine seasons, including the last six as the program's associate head coach. Owens was responsible for the development and recruitment of AJ Hammons, Robbie Hummel, Caleb Swanigan, and most recently, Carsen Edwards, who Owens coached through Edwards' freshman season before being hired at Miami.
Game time for the in-state bout is set for 7 p.m.
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