OXFORD, Ohio ? The Ball State men's basketball team suffered a 59-41 loss Wednesday night to Mid-American Conference rival Miami at Millett Hall. The loss drops the Cardinals to 10-10 on the season and 5-3 in MAC play while the RedHawks improve to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in conference action.
“Give credit to Miami, they fought hard and competed for everything tonight,” head coach Billy Taylor said. “We did not rise to the challenge and compete how we needed to. I was very disappointed in our effort in a lot of areas.”
Miami came out of the gate quickly as the RedHawks scored the first six points of the game. The Cardinals weathered the early storm and ran off seven straight points to take a 7-6 lead just over four minutes into the game. Senior guard Rob Giles (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) started things off with a three-pointer as the shot clock was winding down and sophomore forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) scored on back-to-back possessions.
The RedHawks responded with seven straight points of their own on their way to a 15-5 run as Miami took a 21-12 lead at the 7:21 mark. The run was capped by an old-fashioned three-point play from Carl Richburg to give Miami its largest lead of the half.
Ball State answered the run as it closed the half with a 10-4 spurt to head into the locker room trailing by three, 25-22. Senior guard Brandon Lampley (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) started to heat up as he scored eight of the 10 points in the final six minutes of the half as he was four-of-five from the field down the stretch.
The Cardinals finished the first half shooting 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the field and hit 66.7 percent (two-of-three) from three-point land. Lampley led the first half with eight points while Perry added four points. The RedHawks closed the first half shooting 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from the field and 33.3 percent (two-of-six) from long range. Miami had three different players score four points in the opening frame.
Miami opened the second half with four quick points before the Cardinals pulled within five at 33-28 as Giles scored on a lay up. The RedHawks broke the game open and took control with a 16-3 run to take a 49-31 lead. The Cardinals committed six turnovers in eight possessions during the run as Miami out-scored Ball State 34-19 in the second half.
Ball State finished the game shooting 41.5 percent (17-of-41) from the field and 28.6 percent (two-of-seven) from three-point land. Lampley paced the Cardinals as he was the only player in double figures with 10 points. Giles added nine points while junior forward Eric Wormely (Joliet, Ill./Kishwaukee CC) added five points and four rebounds in the loss. Ball State committed 17 turnovers in the loss and only tallied six assists.
Miami finished the night shooting 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the field in the victory and 15.4 percent (two-of-13) from long range. Michael Bramos led all scorers after a slow start as he finished with 14 points on five-of-11 shooting. Tyler Dierkers added 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for the RedHawks.
The Cardinals return home Saturday afternoon as they host the Kent State Golden Flashes. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
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