Ball State University
8-8, 2-2MAC
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Western Michigan
10-7, 2-2MAC
First Half Effort Leads Men's Hoops Over Western Michigan
January 21, 2010 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's basketball team picked up its second straight Mid-American Conference victory Wednesday evening as the Cardinals used a 36-18 first half effort on their way to a 75-68 victory over Western Michigan at Worthen Arena. The victory improves the Cardinals to 8-8 on the season and 2-2 in MAC play, while the Broncos fall to 10-7 overall and 2-2 in league action.
"Obviously we are very proud of our guys tonight," head coach Billy Taylor said. "Our guys played with great energy and we got great leadership from our guards, particularly Brawley (Chisholm), Randy (Davis) and Pierre (Sneed). Those guys did a tremendous job setting the tempo and getting us off to a good start. Western Michigan is a very talented, senior-laden team and our guys were ready with great intensity from the start."
Sophomore guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) paced four Cardinals in double figures as he scored a career-high 21 points in just 21 minutes of play. Davis did most of his damage from the charity stripe as he finished 14-of-16 from the line, including hitting 13 straight in the final five minutes of the game. Ball State hit 22-of-27 from the free throw line in the second half to secure the victory.
Senior forward Terrence Watson (Detroit, Mich./Univ. of Mississippi) posted his second straight double-double as he scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a career-high 34 minutes. Sophomore guard Pierre Sneed (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) continued his strong play on both ends of the floor as he scored a career-high 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and worked hard on the defensive end against WMU leading scorer David Kool.
"We have a lot of different guys who can step up for us in any given game," Taylor said. "Terrence gets a double-double again and was all over the court defensively and Pierre's great effort defensively and making mid-range jump shots was big for us. It is really good for our team to have multiple players step up and take advantage of the opportunities we are getting each game."
The Cardinals opened the game quickly as they scored the first four points and held a 6-2 lead six minutes into the game. After Western Michigan narrowed the gap to two, Ball State posted an 11-0 run to force a Broncos' timeout with BSU leading, 17-4. Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) started the run with a runner in the lane and Watson highlighted the spurt with a pair of jumpers.
Western Michigan was able to narrow the gap to nine points at 19-10, but the Cardinals posted a 14-4 run to take a 31-14 lead with just over two minutes left in the half. Senior guard Brawley Chisholm (Bronx, N.Y./Western Texas College) was the catalyst in the run as he scored five points, including Ball State's only three-pointer of the first half.
The Cardinals took a 36-18 lead into the locker room as they connected on 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the field in the first half. Watson, Sneed and Chisholm all led the offensive attack as they each scored nine first half points. Watson almost tallied a first half double-double as he had nine points and eight rebounds.
Ball State's defense held Western Michigan to just 26.1 percent (6-of-23) shooting from the field in the opening frame. The Broncos also missed on all eight of their three-point shots in the first half. The Cardinals forced WMU into eight turnovers in the first half and turned those miscues into 11 points.
Western Michigan came out of the locker room and posted an 8-2 run in the opening three minutes to narrow the BSU lead to 38-26. The Cardinals responded with six straight points as Davis nailed a three-pointer and junior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) scored three straight points.
The Broncos kept battling as they posted a 7-2 run to pull with 13 points, but the Cardinals had an answer each time on the offensive end. Sneed nailed a jumper with 5:23 remaining to put the Cardinals ahead 57-43.
Western Michigan lengthened the game down the stretch with full court pressure and fouling to send the Cardinals to the free throw line. Watson put the Cardinals ahead 66-56 with a free throw with 1:37 left in the game, but Kool nailed a contested three-pointer to pull within six points. The Cardinals iced the game at the charity stripe down the stretch as Davis hit six straight in the final 1:30 of the game and freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) nailed 3-of-4 to seal the victory.
Ball State finished the game shooting 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the field in the victory and 73.5 percent (25-of-34) from the free throw line. The Cardinals controlled the glass as well as they owned a 34-26 advantage on the boards, including 12 on the offensive end.
Chisholm finished the night with 11 points off of the bench in 20 minutes of action. He was 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line, while handing out three assists. Scaife chipped in seven points while Jones added six points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
Western Michigan finished the game shooting 42.3 percent (22-of-52) from the field in the loss and 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from three-point land. Kool led all scorers with 22 hard-fought points before fouling out with 1:02 remaining in the game. Alex Wolf chipped in 18 points off of the bench as he nailed three three-pointers.
Ball State returns to action Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals travel to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a 2 p.m. MAC contest against Eastern Michigan. The game will be televised by the Ball State Sports Network.
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