Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Men's Basketball's Rally Falls Short At Eastern Michigan
January 23, 2010 | Men's Basketball
YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Ball State men's basketball team suffered a 57-53 loss Saturday afternoon in a see-saw affair against Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan at the Convocation Center. The Cardinals rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final minute to pull with two, but could not overcome the margin entirely as BSU falls to 8-9 overall on the year and 2-3 in MAC play.
"I give our guys credit for battling back from 11 points down late and giving us an opportunity late in the game," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We dug ourselves too big of a hole in the second half. Turnovers killed us today as well as offensive rebounds. Our defense was strong and made the initial stop but we kept allowing Eastern Michigan multiple chances."
Junior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) led the offensive attack as he scored a team-high 17 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Perry connected on 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line in the loss as he played 26 minutes off of the bench.
The Cardinals and Eagles battled back-and-forth for most of the first half with the score tied at 10-10 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half. Ball State took the lead over the next four-plus minutes as the Cardinals posted a 9-1 run to take a 19-11 lead with 3:13 remaining in the half. Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) keyed the run as he scored five straight points, including the Cardinals' only three-pointer of the half.
Eastern Michigan was able to close the half on a modest 5-2 run to narrow the Ball State lead to 21-16 heading into the locker room. Guard Carlos Medlock scored the final five points of the half for the Eagles, including their only three-pointer of the half. The Cardinals connected on 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from the field in the opening half and held the Eagles to 31.8 percent (7-of-22) shooting.
The BSU defense forced EMU into 11 first half turnovers as the Cardinals tallied seven steals, including four from sophomore guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth). Perry led the Cardinals' attack as he scored 12 points in the opening frame off of the bench as he was 4-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line.
The teams came out of the halftime break and the Cardinals took an eight-point lead at 26-18 as senior forward Terrence Watson (Detroit, Mich./Univ. of Mississippi) nailed a jumper. Eastern Michigan responded with a 7-0 run to pull within one at 26-25 and for a BSU timeout. The Eagles got four straight points from Justin Dobbins and a three-pointer Antonio Green to narrow the gap.
The two teams went back-and-forth before the Eagles posted an 18-5 run to take a 47-38 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Medlock hit two three-pointers during the stretch while Dobbins added four more points. Eastern Michigan was able to extend its lead to 55-44 with 57 seconds remaining in the game as Jay Higgins hit two free throws.
Ball State's furious rally started in the final minute as Scaife nailed a three-pointer to pull within eight. The Cardinals' defense stepped up with pressure and forced Medlock into a turnover that Watson converted into an old-fashioned three-point play to pull BSU with five at 55-50 with 43 seconds on the clock.
The Cardinals kept the momentum as Eastern Michigan missed two free throws to give the ball back to BSU. The Cardinals came down the court quickly and got a three-pointer in the corner from Scaife to pull within two at 55-53.
The Eagles again aided Ball State as they missed both free throws to give the Cardinals the ball with 11 seconds remaining. BSU committed a turnover though on the ensuing possession to give the Eagles the ball back with five seconds left in the game. Eastern Michigan extended its lead to three points as Medlock hit one of two free throws but the Cardinals couldn't connect on a full court pass looking for the game-tying three-pointer on the final play.
Ball State finished the game shooting 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field and 50 percent (4-of-8) from three-point land. The Cardinals again were strong at the free throw line as they hit 75 percent (9-of-12), but only got to the line 12 times compared to 23 attempts for the Eagles.
Scaife ended the game with 13 points before fouling out late in the game. He connected on 5-of-11 from the field and was a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point land. Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) chipped in seven points and six rebounds in the loss for the Cardinals.
Eastern Michigan finished the game shooting 44 percent (22-of-50) from the field and 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from three-point land. The Eagles allowed the Cardinals back in the game in large part due to their poor free throw shooting as EMU connected on just 39.1 percent (9-of-23) for the game, including 10 misses in the second half.
Dobbins led all scorers as he tallied 18 points, 16 in the second half, on 8-of-13 shooting. Medlock added 12 points, including a trio of three-pointers, while Brandon Bowdry notched nine points and nine rebounds.
Ball State returns to action Tuesday night as the Cardinals host rival Miami at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
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