MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State men's basketball team continued its strong play in Mid-American Conference action as the Cardinals downed Toledo 66-53 on Sunday afternoon at Worthen Arena. The victory improves the Cardinals to 9-8 on the season and 4-1 in MAC play as they remain in a first place tie in the West Division.
“This was a good win for us,” head coach Billy Taylor said. “Before the game, I told the guys that yesterday was an interesting day in the MAC as four out of five road teams won. We knew Toledo was going to come in with a good effort and our guys really responded. We got the game under control in the second half as we continued to run a good offense and played a tough defense.”
Ball State saw four players reach double figures in the victory with senior guard Rob Giles (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) leading the way with a career-high 16 points off of the bench. Giles connected on six-of-eight from the field, including two-of-three from three-point land while also dishing out four assists. Senior guard Brandon Lampley (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) continued his strong play of late as he scored 13 points and was three-of-five shooting from long range.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) and sophomore forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) paced the attack on the inside as the Cardinals scored 28 points in the paint, including 18 in the second half.
Jones led the way as he posted his third career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. His 15 rebounds are the most for a Cardinal since Anthony Newell grabbed 15 boards at Buffalo last season (2/13/08). Perry added a season-high 13 points as he was five-of-seven from the field while also grabbing seven rebounds.
Toledo (4-15, 2-3 MAC) opened the game with two early baskets before Ball State ran off eight straight points to take a 10-4 lead and force a Rockets' timeout. Lampley and Giles ignited the early run as they each nailed a three-pointer in the spurt. The Rockets responded with an 18-5 run, including 10 straight points, to take a 22-15 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the half.
After the Cardinals called a timeout, Ball State closed the half on a 7-0 run to go into the locker room tied at 22-22. Perry got the run going with back-to-back baskets and junior guard Brawley Chisholm (Bronx, N.Y./Western Texas College) nailed a three-pointer with seven seconds left in the half as the Cardinals broke the Rockets' full court press.
Ball State connected on just 31.0 percent (nine-of-29) from the field in the first half, including 37.5 percent (three-of-eight) from long range. Perry paced the Cardinals with six first half points while Jones grabbed six rebounds in the opening frame. Toledo connected on 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the field and just 28.6 percent (two-of-seven) from long range. Justin Anyijong led the Rockets with nine first half points and the Cardinals held Toledo's leading scorer, Tyrone Kent, scoreless in the first half.
Ball State came out in the second half and took back the lead for good with a three-pointer from Giles to take a 25-22 lead. The two teams battled back-and-forth for the first eight minutes of the half until Ball State ran off five straight points to take a 36-31 lead. The Rockets kept fighting as they scored five straight to tie the game once again.
The Cardinals were able to pull away from the Rockets down the stretch thanks in large part to an 11-0 run as they took a 53-40 lead with 4:37 remaining in the game. Perry and Giles ignited the run with three points each and Lampley put the crowd on its feet with a three-pointer as the shot clock expired after corralling a loose ball.
“We made all of the hustle plays today,” Taylor said. “We got to the loose balls and saved them, got deflections for steals and were diving on the floor. All are plays that you can make when you are playing as hard as you can. We did that today as we played with a great sense of urgency.”
Ball State kept the Rockets at bay down the stretch as it dominated play in the paint in the second half and nailed its free throws. The Cardinals finished the game shooting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field after shooting 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half. The Cardinals also nailed 42.9 percent (six-of-14) from three-point land in the victory.
Toledo was held to just 38.5 percent (20-of-52) shooting from the field in the loss and just 22.2 percent (four-of-18) from three-point land. The Rockets were led by Anyijong who finished with a game-high 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The Ball State defense held Toledo to 53 points in the victory, marking the fourth time in the past five games that BSU has held an opponent under 55 points. The Cardinals held Kent, who entered the game averaging 15.6 points per game, to just six points in the victory.
Ball State is now 9-8 on the season, marking the first time the Cardinals have been above the .500 mark 17 games into the season since the 2004-05 season when BSU was 11-6 through 17 games. The Cardinals are also 4-1 to open MAC play for the first time since the 2003-04 season when Ball State began conference play with a 5-1 record.
The Cardinals will have a quick turnaround and returns to action Wednesday night as they begin a six-game stretch against MAC East Division teams, beginning with a meeting at Bowling Green. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Anderson Arena.
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