Ball State University
7-4
North Carolina A&T
5-8
Post Play Leads Men's Hoops Over N.C. A&T, 80-68
December 31, 2010 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's basketball team closed out the 2010 calendar year with an 80-68 victory over North Carolina A&T on New Year's Eve at Worthen Arena. The Cardinals dominated play in the paint as they scored 38 points inside and out-rebounded the Aggies 45-30 to improve to 7-4 on the season.
"We scrapped it out and found a way to win today," head coach Billy Taylor said. "You're not always going to play your best basketball but in those games you have to scratch and claw to pull out the victory. We got great production off the bench with three freshmen Chris (Bond), Tyrae (Robinson) and Jesse (Berry) reaching double figures. Their play provided us a tremendous boost and that experience and confidence will only help us as we get into conference play."
Junior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) led the charge as he scored a career-high 25 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Jones connected on 7-of-13 from the field and hit 11-of-14 from the free throw line as the Cardinals connected on 81.6 percent (31-of-38) from the line as a team.
Freshman forward Chris Bond (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) was one of one of three players off the bench to finish in double figures scoring as he scored a career-high 13 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Bond was 6-of-9 from the floor and notched four offensive rebounds, which he converted into eight second chance points.
North Carolina A&T (5-8) came out of the gate and opened on a 14-5 run over the first five-plus minutes of the game. The Aggies hit two early three-pointers on their way to six first half three-pointers. Ball State gained its footing as freshman guard Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) hit back-to-back three-pointers.
The Cardinals took control of the game at the 11:30 mark as they posted a 23-3 run, including 17 straight points. Ball State limited the Aggies without a field goal for 8:41 of the half during the 20-point swing. Jones ignited the run as he scored four points in a five second span.
Berry continued his strong first half as he scored seven points in the run on his way to a team-high 11 first half points. Freshman guard Tyrae Robinson (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) scored six points during the spurt off the bench as BSU's bench out-scored the Aggies' bench 21-11 in the first half.
Ball State connected on 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the field, including three three-pointers by Berry. The Cardinals were strong from the free throw line as they hit 81.3 percent (13-of-16) in the opening half. North Carolina A&T connected on 37.5 percent (12-of-32) from the field but hit 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from long range. The Cardinals' defense held the Aggies' leading scorer, Thomas Coleman, to just two first half points on 1-of-3 shooting while Nic Simpson led N.C. A&T with 11 points.
The teams came out of the halftime break and answered baskets back-and-forth before the Cardinals posted a 9-1 run to take a 53-43 lead. The Cardinals did their damage in the paint as Bond scored five points while Jones and senior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran) scored two points each.
The Aggies continued to fire from the outside to stay within striking distance as they posted an 8-2 run to narrow the deficit to 62-59 with 5:07 left in the game. Ball State weathered the storm and answered with an 8-2 run of its own to take the lead back to nine at 70-61. Jones and Bond scored all eight points in the run as they continually attacked the paint.
The Cardinals closed out the victory down the stretch at the free throw line as they hit 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) from the line in the second half. The 31 made free throws are a season-high and the most for the Cardinals since hitting 32 free throws November 13, 2009 against Valparaiso.
Ball State finished the game shooting 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field despite hitting just 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from long range. Berry finished the afternoon with 15 points as he was 4-of-9 from the field, including all three of the Cardinals' three-pointers.
Robinson also turned in a career-high performance as he finished with 10 points off the bench to go along with five rebounds and two assists. He hit 2-of-4 from the field and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line in the victory. Perry fell just shy of a double-double as he scored nine points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds in the victory.
North Carolina A&T ended the game shooting 38.1 percent (24-of-63) from the field and hit 10-of-27 (37.0 percent) from three-point land. The 10 three-pointers allowed by the Cardinals are the most since Manchester hit 10 last New Year's Eve. Simpson led the Aggies with 18 points as he was 6-of-14 form the field, including three three-pointers.
Ball State did a masterful job on Coleman who entered the game averaging 14.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game for N.C. A&T. The Cardinals held him to a season-low six points and a season-low six rebounds before fouling out after 29 minutes of play.
The Cardinals open the 2011 calendar year Monday evening as they host SIU-Edwardsville at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
####
