Ball State University Athletics
Cardinals Fall To Northern Illinois On Retro Night
March 01, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Despite a game which featured eight ties and 13 lead changes, the visiting Huskies handed the 2006 edition of the Cardinals -- who sported replica uniforms from the 1980-81 team -- a disappointing 78-73 setback.
The loss drops Ball State to 9-17 overall and 5-12 in the league, while Northern Illinois strengthened its grip on a MAC West Division title and improved to 16-10 overall and 11-6 in the league.
Ball State ends its regular season on the road Saturday afternoon at Eastern Michigan. The MAC Tournament begins Monday at an opponent to be determined.
"It was a special night to have those guys back on campus," said BSU head coach Tim Buckley. "They are a special part of our program's history. Tonight's game was another hard-fought, competitive game."
D'Andre Peyton scored a career-high 21 points, including back-to-back scores with less than two minutes remaining to pull BSU within three points.
Peyton's final bucket came with :29 on the clock to cut the NIU lead to 74-71, but the Huskies' converted from the free throw line to hold on for the 78-73 final.
Charles Bass poured in 13 points in the first 20 minutes and matched his career high with 15 points.
"Offensively, he did tonight what we expected him to do since he got in a uniform," Buckley said. "He was really aggressive. He played strong on the offensive end and was a real spark for us."
Bass capped a 16-7 Ball State run to open the contest and give the Cardinals' their biggest lead of the game at the 12:58 mark of the first half.
After NIU battled back to tie the contest, a dunk from Bass tied the game for the fifth time in the first 20 minutes at 33 all, but NIU's Craig Reichel drilled a three-point field goal to put NIU back on top 36-33 en route to a slim one-point advantage at the break.
The Huskies built a trio of seven-point leads in the second stanza, before Peyton and Skip Mills sparked a 6-0 BSU run to make it 68-67 with just under four minutes to play.
Mills returned to double figures with 19 points and four assists, while MAC Freshman of the Year candidate Maurice Acker handed out six helpers.
Wednesday's Retro Night III contest featured 13 members of the 1980-81 Cardinals returning to campus for a 25-year reunion and celebration. Coach Steve Yoder and Ray McCallum were among the honorees in attendance.
The Cardinals went 20-10 that year and captured a MAC Crown with a 10-6 league mark, behind the 18.4 points per game from guard Ray McCallum and the six rebounds a contest from George Bradley.
The 1980-81 team set many milestones and school records -- the first team to win 20 games, Yoder was named the MAC Coach of the Year, McCallum was the first BSU player ever named to the All-MAC First Team and the Cardinal's first MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
