Ball State University
11-521-10; MAC
#3 Buffalo
7-914-17; MAC
Men?s Basketball Falls In MAC Tournament Semifinals
March 14, 2009 | Men's Basketball
“Obviously the game tonight didn't turn out how we wanted it to,” head coach Billy Taylor said. “Our kids fought hard all game long but we had trouble controlling the glass in the first half and struggled in the second half defensively. That does not discount the effort that we got tonight from our seniors in Laron Frazier, Rob Giles, Brandon Lampley and Anthony Newell. They set the tone for our team all year and we made tremendous growth as a program this year. They led us from a team that was an afterthought in the conference last year to a team that was in contention for a MAC championship this year.”
Senior guard Rob Giles (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) paced the Cardinals' attack as he scored 13 points on five-of-10 shooting, including three three-pointers. Fellow classmate Laron Frazier (Waukegan, Ill./Highland CC) added a team-high 15 points in the loss while freshman forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) chipped in eight points and five rebounds.
Ball State opened the game quickly as it ran out to an 11-6 lead just five minutes into the contest. Giles scored the Cardinals' first five points of the contest and Frazier capped the run with back-to-back baskets. Buffalo (21-10) responded with a 10-2 run to take a 16-13 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half.
The two teams battled back-and-forth for most of the first half with Jones giving BSU a 23-22 lead at the 6:15 mark. The Bulls closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 29-25 lead into the locker room. Ball State shot 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from the field in the first half while Buffalo connected on 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from the field.
Ball State pulled back within one early in the second half on a Giles three-pointer to narrow the gap to 31-30. Buffalo responded with seven straight points to take an eight point lead. The Bulls allowed the Cardinals back within four but ran off nine straight points to extend the lead back to double figures.
Ball State made one final push down the stretch as Frazier nailed a three-pointer and senior guard Brand Lampley (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) scored on back-to-back possessions to pull the Cardinals within seven points. Buffalo was able to keep the Cardinals at arm's length though as it hit enough free throws and the Cardinals could not get the big shot to fall in the closing minutes.
Ball State finished the game shooting 40.8 percent (20-of-49) from the field and 33.3 percent (four-of-12) from three-point land. The Bulls connected on 52.1 percent (25-of-48) from the field in the game, including 57.1 percent (12-of-21) in the second half as UB out-scored the Cardinals 35-27 in the second frame.
Buffalo was led by forward Max Boudreau who scored a career-high 21 points off of the bench as he was eight-of-10 from the field. Guard Rodney Pierce added 18 points as he was eight-of-14 from the field while Mitchell Watt chipped in 10 points.
The semifinal appearance was the 19th in Ball State history in the MAC Tournament and its first since the 2002 season. The Cardinals, who claimed a share of the MAC West championship, won a game in the MAC Tournament for the first time since the 2003-04 season and improved to 36-22 all-time in the conference tournament.
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