Ball State University
1-0
Valparaiso
0-1
Six In Doubles Figures Leads MBB To Victory Over Valpo
November 14, 2009 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's basketball team opened the 2009-10 season in impressive fashion Friday night as the Cardinals downed instate rival Valparaiso 88-78 at Worthen Arena. Six different Cardinals scored in double figures in the victory, marking the first time BSU accomplished the feat since February 7, 1998 (vs. Bowling Green).
"Tonight was a good way to start the season," head coach Billy Taylor said. "Defensively we did some good things and made adjustments in the second half. Offensively we had great distribution with six players in double figures and had scoring threats both inside and out. We were aggressive in the paint and executed our game plan."
Ball State's three starting forwards combined to score 47 points in the victory as they were 15-of-23 (.652) shooting from the field. Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) led the charge as he scored a team-high 19 points while grabbing six rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Jones, the reigning Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, connected on seven-of-11 from the field and five-of-six from the charity stripe.
Junior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) turned in a strong performance as he scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Perry connected on his first six shots from the field as he ran out to 12 first half points. Senior forward Terrence Watson (Detroit, Mich./Univ. of Mississippi) came just shy of a double-double in his BSU debut as he scored 11 points, grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and blocked a game-high four shots.
Ball State (1-0) started quickly as it ran out to a 14-3 lead just five minutes into the game, including a stretch of eight straight points. Perry started the scoring with the first four points of the game and senior guard Brawley Chisholm (Bronx, N.Y./Western Texas College) put the Cardinals into overdrive as he nailed back-to-back three-pointers to force a Valparaiso timeout.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 14 points after freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) nailed BSU's third three-pointer of the early going. Valparaiso started to settle in the narrowed the gap to just four points heading into halftime at 42-38. Brandon Wood was the catalyst for the Crusaders as he scored 17 first half points, including a perfect three-of-three from long range.
Ball State connected on 64.0 percent (16-of-25) from the field in the first half and hit three-of-six (50%) from long range. Valparaiso finished the first half 14-of-28 (50%) from the field in the opening frame and was five-of-10 (50%) from three-point land.
The two teams battled back-and-forth to open the second half with Valpo pulling within one point at 46-45 to force a BSU timeout. The Cardinals traded baskets for a few possessions before running off a 9-2 spurt to take a 60-51 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. Jones keyed the run with back-to-back baskets while Scaife capped it with a three-pointer from the corner.
After Valparaiso narrowed the gap to five points, the Cardinals gave themselves breathing room with an 11-2 run to go ahead 73-59 with over five minutes left. Jones started the run as he hammered home a dunk off of an assist from Chisholm and Scaife added four points in the stretch to seal the victory. Ball State was solid from the free throw line in the closing minutes as it connected on 25-of-36 (69.4%) in the second half.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 57.8 percent (26-of-45) from the field and 44.4 percent (four-of-nine) from three-point land. Ball State's defense stiffened in the second half as it held the Crusaders to just 37.1 percent (13-of-35) shooting in the half and just 16.7 percent (two-of-12) from long range.
Chisholm finished the night with a career-high 12 points off of the bench as he was three-of-four from the field and four-of-six from the free throw line. He played a career-high 25 minutes and handed out a team-high five assists. Scaife had a strong collegiate debut as he scored 14 points on the strength of five-of-10 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
Sophomore guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) rounded out the Cardinals in double figures as he added 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. Davis was a career-best nine-of-10 shooting from the free throw line in the victory.
Valparaiso was led by Wood who finished with 25 points on nine-of-23 shooting as he was held to three-of-13 in the second half. Cory Johnson added 21 points and nine rebounds while Brandon McPherson chipped in 11 points.
Ball State has now won back-to-back season openers under Taylor after defeating Eastern Illinois 72-59 in the opener last year. The Cardinals will continue their non-conference schedule Saturday, November 21 when they host SIU-Edwardsville at 2 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
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