Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
5-12 (1-3MAC)
Northern Illinois
4-12 (1-3MAC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Illinois | 32 | 28 | 60 |
| Ball State | 32 | 39 | 71 |
Three Cards In Double Figures; Men's Hoops Downs NIU
January 17, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Three players scored in double figures as
“Hopefully this is something we can build on,” said first-year BSU head coach Ronny Thompson. “We can take some positives from this game. It's nice to get a win.”
Northern even held a six-point lead early on, but
“I think our demeanor and how we came out to this game changed a lot,” said junior Peyton Stovall. “We just decided after our last game, that we want to win this thing. Our intensity was turned up even more on offense and defense.”
After the intermission, Northern Illinois came out shooting, scoring the first four points before a
Northern then pushed the lead back to six before the Cardinals went on a 12-0 run, changing the score from six points down to six points ahead with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation.
“I thought the momentum shift was huge,” Thompson said. “We got steals, we got rebounds and I thought we got stops that allowed us to run. I thought that was huge. We also hit more free throws in the second half.”
The Cardinals would never look back and gained their largest lead at 11 en route to the 71-60 final.
A big match-up issue for the Cardinals was center Micah Rollin against Northern's James Hughes, last year's MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Rollin was able to limit Hughes to six points and two rebounds, while Rollin tallied 16 points, five rebounds and a block.
“It starts with practice,” Rollin said. “My team was looking for me. I definitely had to use my weight against him because he is longer. That was my advantage.”
“I challenged Micah a lot this week,” Thompson said. “I told him he needed to step up and he did. I am proud of him. Micah is playing well and I think we're starting to see his growth and maturation process.”
Also playing well for
Mills also had four rebounds and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Other scorers included Peyton Stovall with nine, D'Andre Peyton added seven, Chris Ames finished with four and Ahmad Cook had a lone bank-shot three pointer.
“I just saw a different look in everyone's eyes,” Stovall said. “They got really hungry really fast. I thought we definitely played well.”
Perhaps a large part of the victory was the continuously loyal student section -- "The Nest".
“I love The Nest", Thompson said. “The Nest is great. I went over there and told them, ?you guys are great.' They do a tremendous job and I think our team really feeds off them. At times during games, I try not to look at The Nest and the crazy stuff they are doing, but sometimes I can't help looking down at those guys.”
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak as the Cardinals head into Friday's match-up at Central Michigan.
The game will be televised on the Ball State Sports Network and can be seen online through "Ball State All-Access."
