MUNCIE, Ind. ? Freshman forward Mo Hubbard's (Chantilly, Va./Westfield) offensive put-back with 1:09 left in the game gave the Ball State men's basketball team a 53-51 victory over Mid-American Conference East Division leader Buffalo on Sunday afternoon at Worthen Arena. The victory moves Ball State into sole possession of first place in the MAC West Division with a 6-5 record and it snaps the Bulls' nine-game winning streak as Buffalo falls to 9-2 in conference play.
“Today was a great effort by our guys,” head coach Billy Taylor said. “We talked before the game about how good a ball club Buffalo is with them being a first place team. We wanted to come out and give a first place effort ourselves and I thought we did that today. Our defense was terrific. Our guys did a great job of following the game plan and we showed a lot of toughness battling on the glass.”
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) was one of three Cardinals' in double figures in the victory as he fell just shy of a double-double with a game-high 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Jones scored six straight points for the Cardinals in the second half as the game went back-and-forth with 15 lead changes and 15 ties through 40 minutes.
Buffalo (17-6, 9-2 MAC) came out and nailed its first three-pointer of the game to take an early lead but the Cardinals came back and took a 9-7 lead. Senior guard Rob Giles (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) nailed a three-pointer to open BSU's scoring and freshman guard Pierre Sneed (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) hit a jumper to give the Cardinals the lead just eight minutes into the game.
The Bulls took the largest lead of the afternoon at 15-9 as they ran off eight straight points with nine minutes left in the opening frame. Ball State (11-12, 6-5 MAC) responded to the adversity and posted a 12-4 run to take a 21-19 lead just under three minutes left in the half. Giles ignited the run with another three-pointer while senior guard Brandon Lampley (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) scored four points in the stretch.
The two teams remained close the rest of the half with Buffalo clinging to a 27-26 lead before Lampley was able to score at the buzzer courtesy of a UB goaltending call to send the Cardinals into the locker room with a 28-27 lead. Ball State finished the first half shooting 44.0 percent (11-of-25) from the field and 50 percent (three-of-six) from three-point land. Buffalo was held to 41.4 percent (12-of-29) shooting from the field in the first half and just 16.7 percent (one-of-six) from long range.
The teams came out in the second half and went toe-to-toe with each other as neither team held a lead above two points in the second half. The teams were deadlocked at 43-43 with 6:16 left in the game when Hubbard made a diving play on the baseline to keep the ball from going out of bounds and found Jones underneath for the basket to give Ball State the lead. Both teams traded baskets back-and-forth until Buffalo took a 49-48 lead on a Calvin Betts free throw with 3:59 left in the game.
Ball State responded with a huge play as Giles received a no-look pass from Hubbard and converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give BSU a 51-49 lead with 2:07 left. The Bulls were able to tie the game once again at 51-51 as Vadim Fedotov converted a put-back with 1:31 left.
The Cardinals came down the court and set up a play after a timeout. Ball State was able to get the ball down low to Jones who had his lay-up roll off the rim but Hubbard crashed the boards on the weak side and converted the missed shot into the game-winning basket. Buffalo had a shot to tie the game on the ensuing possession but Greg Gamble missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity to give the Cardinals the ball.
Ball State used most of the shot clock in the following possession but Lampley's jumper came up short and Buffalo got another chance to tie the game. The Cardinals' defense stiffened on the next possession and contested the Bulls' initial shot. Rodney Pierce's three-pointer was off the mark and Betts missed the put-back before Jones was able to corral the rebound for the Cardinals. Buffalo had one last chance with 1.8 seconds to go the length of the court but Giles out jumped the Bulls for the three-quarters court pass to seal the victory.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the field and 23.1 percent (three-of-13) from long range. The Ball State defense stiffened in the second half as it limited the Bulls to just 32.0 percent (eight-of-25) from the field in the half and just 37.0 percent (20-of-54) for the game. The Cardinals also held Buffalo to just 22.2 percent (two-of-nine) shooting from long range.
Giles continued his strong play of late as he finished with 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and record both a steal and a blocked shot. Lampley chipped in 10 points, four assists and two steals while Hubbard finished the day with six points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Ball State also posted a 36-33 rebounding advantage against Buffalo, which entered the game as the top rebounding team in the conference.
Buffalo was led by Max Boudreau's 13 points off of the bench as he was five-of-six from the field and three-of-three from the free throw line. Fedotov added eight points while Sean Smiley chipped in seven points in the loss for the Bulls. The loss snaps the Bulls' longest Division I winning streak at nine games and give them just their second conference loss on the year.
Ball State will return to action against the MAC West Division Wednesday night as they hit the road to face the Toledo Rockets at 7 p.m. at Savage Hall.
####
