Ball State University Athletics
Men?s Basketball Falls To Eastern Michigan 55-53 In Overtime
March 08, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Ball State (13-16, 7-9 MAC) holds the tiebreaker in the three-way tie and earns the second seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena. The Cardinals earn a bye in the first round of the tournament and will begin play in the quarterfinals Thursday, March 12, when they play the winner of No. 7 Central Michigan-No. 10 Eastern Michigan at noon.
“I am disappointed for our seniors on senior day,” head coach Billy Taylor said. “On senior day, you know that the seniors will play with energy and will give a lot of effort. I didn't think we had enough energy around them today and we had opportunities down the stretch but we were unable to convert. We have to head Cleveland with the mentality that it is all about winning and surviving. We have shown what we are capable this season, now we just have to put it together for three straight games.”
Senior guard Rob Giles (Detroit, Mich./Mott CC) paced the Cardinals in the loss as he recorded his second career double-double. Giles scored a game-high 18 points and also grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds. He connected on four-of-five from three-point land as he played a career-high 43 minutes.
Ball State came out of the gate quickly against the Eagles as it scored the first 10 points of the game and ran out to an early 13-2 lead as it used the momentum from senior day festivities. Giles started things quickly with two three-pointers and fellow senior Laron Frazier (Waukegan, Ill./Highland CC) nailed the Cardinals' third three-pointer in the opening six minutes.
Eastern Michigan (8-23, 6-10 MAC) started to chip away at the Cardinals' lead and pulled within four points at 23-19 heading into the halftime break The Cardinals shot 39.1 percent (nine-of-23) from the field and 60 percent (three-of-five) from three-point land. The Eagles connected on 23.1 percent (six-of-26) from the field in the opening frame.
The two teams went back-and-forth in the opening minutes of the second half before Eastern Michigan posted a 13-3 run to take a 37-32 lead and force a BSU timeout. The Cardinals responded with five straight points to tie the game as freshman forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) scored on a tip-in and Frazier hit a jumper.
Eastern Michigan took a 41-38 lead with 38.1 seconds left as Justin Dobbins scored off an offensive rebound to force a Ball State timeout. The Cardinals came down on the ensuing possession and Giles nailed a three-pointer in front of the bench to knot the game at 41-41 with 24.6 seconds left in regulation.
The Cardinals' defense came up with a huge play in the closing seconds as senior guard Brandon Lampley (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) was able to force an EMU timeout with a five second call. That play set up the Cardinals' last-second shot and Lampley was able to find freshman forward Mo Hubbard (Chantilly, Va./Westfield) underneath. Hubbard was able to get off a contested layup that rolled off the rim as the clock expired to send the game into overtime.
Eastern Michigan came out and scored the first five points of overtime to take the early lead but Jones converted an old-fashioned three-point play to narrow the deficit to two. The Eagles answered with five straight points to take a 53-46 lead with 1:46 left in extra time. The Cardinals started to chip away at the deficit as sophomore forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) scored on a put back and Frazier nailed a three-pointer to pull within one at 54-53 with 23.5 second left. Eastern Michigan hit one of two free throws to extend the lead to two points and give the Cardinals one final chance to tie the game. Giles got off a jumper that rolled off the rim and Perry's tip-in attempt was off the mark as time expired to give Ball State its third straight last-second loss.
Ball State finished the game shooting 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the field and 36.3 percent (four-of-11) from three-point land. Eastern Michigan finished the game shooting 34.5 percent (19-of-55) from the field and 35.7 percent (five-of-14) from long range. The Eagles hit four-of-six shots in the overtime, including both three-point attempts.
Lampley finished the game with 10 points in 35 minutes of action as he was four-of-10 from the field. Frazier chipped in eight points and four steals in 39 minutes of action while Perry added eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Eastern Michigan was led by Brandon Bowdry's double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Dobbins finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds while guard L.J. Frazier chipped in 10 points, including a big three-pointer in overtime.
Ball State will head into the 2009 MAC Tournament as the number two seed and will receive a bye in the opening round. The Cardinals will begin play in the quarterfinals Thursday, March 12, when they play the winner of No. 7 Central Michigan-No. 10 Eastern Michigan at noon.
####
