Ball State University
11-9, 5-3MAC
Ohio
11-10, 2-5MAC
Men's Hoops Stuns Ohio In Overtime Thriller, 67-66
January 31, 2010 | Men's Basketball
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ball State men's basketball team picked up its third straight victory as the Cardinals stunned Mid-American Conference foe Ohio with a come-from-behind 67-66 overtime victory at the Convocation Center. Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) scored the game-winning basket with 2.1 seconds left in overtime to send BSU to the victory. The win is the Cardinals' first victory in Athens since January 8, 1998 and marks their fifth win in their last five games this year.
"I am really proud of our guys for their effort this afternoon," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We have had a long, tough week with three games in six days but we haven't made any excuses and have come out and fought very hard. Ohio is a very good team that is playing with a lot of energy and playing good basketball. This was a different test for our guys coming back on the road. We had a lot of different guys step up and play big today."
Senior forward Terrence Watson (Detroit, Mich./Univ. of Mississippi) turned in his top performance of the season so far as he posted his third career double-double with a career-high 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Watson finished the game 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line while playing a career-high 42 minutes.
"Terrence was huge for us today in the post and defensively on the perimeter," Taylor said. "Our guards made a lot of really good decisions late in the game to help our comeback. Jarrod, who struggled early, really delivered down the stretch and made a great play in overtime for the game-winning basket."
Ohio came out of the gate quickly as it scored the first seven points of the game to force a Ball State timeout less than two minutes into the game. Sophomore guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) slowed the early momentum as he nailed a three-pointer.
The Bobcats moved the lead to 15-8 at the 13:50 mark of the game but the Cardinals responded with a 7-0 run of their own to even the game at 15-15. Watson started the run as he scored in the post while junior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) capped the spurt with an old-fashioned three-point play.
Ball State took its first lead of the afternoon at 21-22 as senior guard Brawley Chisholm (Bronx, N.Y./Western Texas College) hit back-to-back three-pointers. The teams battled back and forth with the Cardinals holding a 28-27 lead with under four minutes in the half. The Bobcats were able to close the half on a 13-4 run to take a 40-32 lead into the locker room as they hit three three-pointers during the closing minutes of the half.
Ball State finished the half shooting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the field and 37.5 percent (3-of-8) from three-point land. Watson led the first half attack as he scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. Ohio ended the half shooting 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from long range. Tommy Freeman and Armon Bassett led the attack with eight points each as they both hit a pair of three-pointers.
The two teams battled back-and-forth for the first 10 minutes of the second half before Ohio took an 11-point lead at 52-41 with 8:44 left in the game. Ball State responded to its largest deficit of the afternoon as the Cardinals posted a 12-2 run to pull within one at 54-53 with 5:33 left in the half. Jones ignited the attack with four points while Davis and freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) each hit three-pointers during the run.
Ohio answered right back and extended the lead to four at 59-55 as Freeman hit a three-pointer. Jones quickly narrowed the gap to two as he hit two straight free throws before Chisholm tied the game at 59-59 with a jumper from the wing with 2:54 left in the contest. The Cardinals' defense stood tall down the stretch as they forced Ohio into four missed field goals and a crucial turnover to send the game into overtime.
Ohio jumped out to an early lead in the overtime period as Freeman converted a three-point play. The Cardinals responded with four straight points as Jones hit two free throws and sophomore guard Pierre Sneed (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) scored in transition to put the Cardinals ahead 63-62. The Bobcats came right back and scored four straight points with two free throws by D.J. Cooper and a jumper from Kenneth van Kempen to take a 66-63 lead with 2:27 left in extra time.
Ball State stepped up big on defense as it drew a charge and grabbed a couple of defensive rebounds after limiting the Bobcats to highly contested shots. Ohio had a chance to ice the game but Asown Sayles' close layup with thwarted by Watson and Jones with 23 seconds left. Davis corralled the rebound and quickly drove the length of the floor and scored a layup to pull within one at 66-65 with 13 seconds left in the game.
The Cardinals' defensive pressure came up with the play of the game on the ensuing inbounds as Ball State forced Ohio into a turnover on a five-second call. The Cardinals called timeout and set up the go ahead play as Davis got the ball into the post to Jones who was able to beat his man in the paint for the game-winning basket with 2.1 seconds left. Ohio's last chance heave was off the mark giving the Cardinals their second overtime victory in the last three games.
Ball State finished the game shooting 37.7 percent (26-of-69) from the field and 30 percent (6-of-20) from three-point land. The Cardinals also connected on 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from the free throw line. BSU held a 44-34 advantage on the glass, including 16 offensive rebounds as it out-scored Ohio 32-24 in the paint.
Jones finished the night with 12 points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of action as he scored all 12 points after halftime, including four of the Cardinals' eight points in the overtime session. Chisholm added 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field while Davis chipped in 10 points and four assists.
Ohio ended the night shooting 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from three-point land in the loss. The Cardinals' defense limited the Bobcats to only 19 second half points as they held them to just seven second half field goals in making the BSU comeback. Freeman led the Bobcats with 16 points as he hit three three-pointers and all five of his free throws. Van Kempen chipped in 13 points and Bassett had 10 points in the loss.
The Cardinals return home to Worthen Arena Thursday evening as they host MAC East Division foe Bowling Green at 7 p.m.
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