Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Falls in Final Minute at Northern Illinois
February 01, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Ball State went back and forth with MAC West-leading Northern Illinois Wednesday night, but the game turned in the Huskies' favor in the game's final minute.
Skip Mills scored 24 points as the Cardinals (7-11, 3-7 MAC) fell, 73-67, in a game marked by 10 ties and 12 lead changes.
Mills' final basket of the night tied the game at 67 with 1:48 to play, but that was the last time the Cardinals would score.
The game remained tied until Northern Illinois' Anthony Maestranzi drove to the basket for a lay-in with 34 seconds left. Ball State, looking to tie the score on the following possession, turned the ball over.
"Maestranzi made the play," Ball State coach Tim Buckley said. "He's a senior, and you expect that from seniors."
After a Cardinal foul, Maestranzi hit two free throws to push the Huskies' lead to 71-67. Maurice Acker quickly drove the length of the floor for Ball State but missed in the lane with 20 seconds to play.
Zach Pancratz grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws to secure the six-point win for Northern Illinois.
"It was a great game, a hard-played, physical, competitive game," Buckley said. "I thought Northern Illinois played well, and I also thought we played well. We turned it over at the end of the game, and with our young team, we have to use this as a teachable situation as we finish out the season."
Ball State junior guard Chris Ames came off the bench to score 12 points for the second consecutive game, matching his season-high. Ames made 5-of-6 attempts from the floor and is 10-of-11 in the last two games combined.
Freshman Jalon Perryman added nine points and a team-high six rebounds. Acker, a candidate for the league's freshman of the year award, also scored nine points.
Acker was forced to sit for seven minutes in the second half with four fouls. The Cardinals spent much of that time without a true point guard on the floor as Mills ran the offense.
Ball State returns to action Saturday in the second game of a double-header at Worthen Arena. The men's team will host Eastern Michigan at 4p.m. following the women's game with Buffalo at 1 p.m.
Halftime of the men's game will feature NBA halftime act The Sky Riders.
