Ball State University
7-912-19; MAC
#7 Central Michigan
7-914-16; MAC
Men?s Basketball Wins Overtime Thriller At MAC Tournament
March 13, 2009 | Men's Basketball
“Today we had a great effort and I am proud of the perseverance that our guys showed,” head coach Billy Taylor said. “After suffering two straight overtime losses, we showed a lot of resiliency today to pick up the overtime victory. Laron was terrific for us as he scoring and penetration softened the CMU defense while Jarrod Jones was a physical presence for us in the paint in a tremendous effort.”
Senior guard Laron Frazier (Waukegan, Ill./Highland CC) turned in a career-high performance as he scored a game-high 22 points. Frazier was eight-of-15 from the field and six-of-seven from the free throw line in the victory. He scored six of the Cardinals' 12 points in the overtime period as BSU out-scored CMU 12-9 in the extra time.
Freshman forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) lived up to his MAC Freshman of the Year award as he scored 20 points and grabbed four rebounds in his first career MAC Tournament contest. Jones was six-of-eight from the field and eight-of-nine from the free throw line as the Cardinals connected on 73.3 percent (22-of-30) from the charity stripe.
Ball State (14-16) came out of the gate quickly as it scored the first four points of the game on its way to an early 7-2 lead. Jones paced the early going with four quick points. Central Michigan rallied to pull within two at 11-9 before the Cardinals ran off six straight points to take a 17-9 lead. Frazier ignited the run with four quick points.
Central Michigan (12-19) started to chip away at the Cardinals' lead as the Chippewas closed the half on an 11-5 run to pull within one at 29-28. CMU guard Jordan Bitzer scored five points during the run including a three-pointer from the wing.
Ball State connected on 42.1 percent (eight-of-19) from the field in the first half and hit 12-of-17 (70.6%) from the free throw line in the opening frame. Jones paced the attack with 10 first half points as he was six-of-six from the free throw line, while Frazier added eight points. Central Michigan shot 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the field in the opening frame but only went to the free throw line twice in the half. Guard Jacolby Hardiman scored eight first half points while Jeremy Allen added seven points.
The two teams went back-and-forth to open the half until Central Michigan took its first lead of the game 10 minutes into the half at 40-38 when forward Marcus Van nailed a jumper from the free throw line. Ball State responded to the adversity and scored six straight points to take a 44-40 lead. Frazier nailed two free throws to give BSU the lead back while senior guard Brandon Lampley (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) nailed a jumper.
The Cardinals took a 50-44 lead with 4:34 left in the second half on a basket from Jones. Central Michigan scored six straight points, including a jumper from Bitzer to tie the game at 50-50 with 1:37 left. Ball State came right back down and Jones scored in the paint to put BSU ahead 52-50. The Cardinals' defense held CMU on the initial shot but Hardiman was there to score on the put-back to knot the game once again at 52-52.
Hardiman had a free throw chance to take the lead but his shot was off the mark. CMU retained possession though as Bitzer claimed the offensive rebound. Ball State's defense stepped up after the CMU timeout and forced a Chippewa turnover in the closing seconds to send the game into overtime.
Central Michigan came out in the overtime period and took the early lead as Bitzer converted a three-point play and then nailed two free throws to give the Chippewas a 59-56 lead. The Cardinals showed their mettle though and never backed down as Jones nailed two free throws to pull BSU within one and the Cardinals grabbed a huge defensive rebound as Bitzer missed a jumper.
Frazier came down on the ensuing possession and after CMU knocked his initial shot off the mark, he was able to corral the loose ball and nail a floater on the baseline to give Ball State a 60-59 lead. The Cardinals once again hit the glass on a Chippewa miss and held the ball with 48 seconds left in the game. Lampley came down the floor and after running the shot clock down, he nailed a jumper in the lane with the shot clock running down to put the Cardinals ahead 62-59.
After a CMU timeout, the Cardinals came up with a huge steal as sophomore forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) stepped in the passing lane to force the Chippewa turnover. Frazier came through once again as he nailed two more free throws to put the Cardinals ahead 64-59 with just 11 seconds left. Ball State connected on six-of-seven from the free throw line in the overtime period to seal the victory.
Ball State finished the game shooting 42.1 percent (20-of-44) from the field in the victory after hit all three shots in the overtime period. Senior guard Rob Giles (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) added 11 points as he was the third Cardinal in double figures. Giles was two-of-four from three-point land and hit five-of-seven from the free throw line. Lampley only finished with seven points but nailed the crucial jumper in the waning seconds of overtime.
Central Michigan finished the game shooting 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the field and just 16.7 percent (two-of-12) from three-point land. Bitzer finished with 18 points as he was six-of-14 from the field while Van was held to 13 points and committed four turnovers. Lampley limited CMU guard Robbie Harman to just three points in the victory as Harman was just one-of-10 from the field.
Ball State will take on the winner of No. 3 Buffalo/No. 6 Kent State in the first semifinal game Friday evening. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena.
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