Ball State University
Maryland Eastern Shore
Men's Hoops Claims 56-47 Victory Over Maryland Eastern Shore
December 28, 2009 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's basketball team recorded its second straight victory and improve to .500 on the season as the Cardinals downed Maryland Eastern Shore 56-47 Monday night at Worthen Arena in non-conference action. Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) posted his third double-double in the past four games and his second straight to lead the Cardinals to victory.
"Tonight was a good, hard-fought victory," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We are not pleased with all phases of our game tonight, but we made enough good plays down the stretch to earn the victory. Our defense was aggressive tonight and stood strong coming up with some key stops. We were also pretty efficient on offense for a slow paced physical game."
Jones, the reigning Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week, posted the sixth double-double of his career as he scored a team-high 12 points while grabbing a season-high 12 rebounds. He also was strong on the defensive end as he recorded three of the Cardinals' six blocks in the victory while senior forward Terrence Watson (Detroit, Mich./Univ. of Mississippi) also added three blocks.
The two teams came out of the gate slowly as they traded baskets back and forth with the Cardinals taking an early 9-6 lead as sophomore forward Mo Hubbard (Chantilly, Va./Westfield) nailed a jumper from the corner. Maryland Eastern Shore responded with nine straight points as Hillary Haley nailed three straight three-pointers to give the Hawks a 15-9 lead and force a BSU timeout.
Ball State (5-5) responded out of the timeout and scored seven straight points to retake the lead at 16-15. Freshman guard Myron Green Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Dominguez) scored three points in the spurt while redshirt freshman Zach Fields (North Vernon, Ind./Jennings County) scored on an offensive rebound.
UMES (3-8) came back and took a three-point lead before sophomore guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) nailed consecutive three-pointers to give the Cardinals a 23-20 lead and force a UMES timeout. The Cardinals closed the half with five straight points, including a three-pointer in the closing seconds from Green to send BSU into the locker room with a 28-24 lead.
Ball State connected on 35.5 percent (11-of-31) from the field and was a perfect four-of-four from three-point land. The Cardinals controlled the glass as they out-rebounded the Hawks by a 22-14 margin, including nine offensive rebounds. Hubbard, Green and Davis all paced the Cardinals with six points each, while Jones grabbed seven first half rebounds.
Maryland Eastern Shore connected on 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from the field and 42.9 percent (three-of-seven) from long range. The Hawks were led by Haley's 11 points, while Sean Berry added five points.
The Cardinals maintained a five-point lead through the first four minutes of the second half before the Hawks scored nine straight points to take a 36-32 lead. Davis slowed the UMES momentum as he nailed his third three-pointer to ignite an 11-2 run by the Cardinals giving BSU a 41-37 lead. Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Central) nailed a jumper to cap the run and force a UMES timeout.
Maryland Eastern Shore did not fold though as the Hawks scored five straight to tie the game before Ball State answered with five consecutive of its own as Jones and Scaife scored on back-to-back possessions.
The Hawks narrowed the lead back to two points but Jones took control on the ensuing possession scoring in the paint to move the game back to a two-possession contest. The Cardinals sealed the victory at the free throw line as Scaife and Davis each nailed a pair of free throws to garner the nine-point victory.
Ball State finished the game shooting 40.0 percent (20-of-50) from the field and was a perfect five-of-five from three-point land. Davis added 11 points in the victory as he was three-of-three from three-point land, grabbed four rebounds and handed out a pair of assists. Scaife rounded out the Cardinals' in double figures as he tallied 11 points, eight of which came in the second half.
Maryland Eastern Shore was held to just 31.6 percent (18-of-57) shooting from the field in the game as the Cardinals' defense limited the Hawks to just 25.8 percent (eight-of-31) shooting in the second half. UMES also connected on just 27.8 percent (five-of-18) from long range, including just 18.2 percent (two-of-11) in the second half.
Ball State did a strong job defensively on Haley in the second half as he only scored two points in the second half to finish with just 13 points on five-of-12 shooting from the field. Kevin White added 11 points and six assists in the loss for the Hawks as he was four-of-15 shooting from the field.
The Cardinals return to action on New Year's Eve as they host Manchester at 4 p.m.at Worthen Arena.
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