Ball State University
13-5
Morehead State
13-8
Morehead State Slips Past Men's Basketball
January 24, 2011 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State (13-5) men's basketball team saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end with a 50-48 non-conference loss to Morehead State (13-8) Monday evening at Worthen Arena.
"I'm disappointed to be in this position," said Ball State head coach Billy Taylor. "We haven't been in this spot for awhile, so I am disappointed, but not disappointed in our effort. I think our guys played extremely hard. I thought we competed. We came up short in some areas."
Junior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City H.S.) led the Cardinals with 14 points, while grabbing a team-best 10 rebounds for his eight double-double of the season and the 18th of his career.
Sophomore guard Jauwan Scaife (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central H.S.) chipped in 12 points for the Cardinals, including a season-high tying three three-pointers.
The Cardinals, who led by 10 points at half, finished the contest with a 33.3 (14-of-42) effort from the field. The Eagles, led by 13 point and 15 rebounds from Kenneth Faried, shot 44.4 (20-of-45) for the night, including a 54.2 (13-of-24) rate of success in the second half. Ball State was able to out-rebound Morehead State 32-to-27.
"The game was a tale of two halves in terms of our defensive effort," added Taylor. "In the first half we played tremendous defensively. We rotated, we trapped well. The second half I thought there was too much penetration which broke us down."
Jones opened the scoring by knocking down two from the charity stripe to give the Cardinals an early 2-0 edge. Morehead State would manage to tie the score at 6-6 on a bucket from Ty Proffitt, only to have a hoop and a free throw from freshman forward Chris Bond (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) propel BSU back into the lead at 9-6.
With the Cardinals holding on to a 16-11 advantage with 7:12 remaining in the first half, Morehead State would claw back making it a one-point contest (16-15) on a Faried jumper at the 3:55 mark.
From there, BSU's defense took control, holding the Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the half, while four points from freshman guard Tyrae Robinson (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) and five from Scaife gave the Cardinals a 25-15 edge at the half.
Scaife continued his hot shooting with an early second-half trifecta to give BSU its largest lead of the game at 28-17 with 19:08 remaining. Unfortunately, a 14-4 run from the guests followed, bringing Morehead State within one (32-31) at the 11:41 mark.
MSU's hot streak continued as Terrance Hill and Proffitt each connected from long range, pushing the score to 32-27. The Eagles took their largest lead, seven points, moments later on a bucket from Drew Kelly (41-34 with 7:56 left).
Thanks to threes from freshman guard Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson H.S.) and Scaife, the Cardinals battled back within three, while a jumper from senior forward Malik Perry (Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran H.S.) cut the gap to 45-44 just before the final media timeout.
While the Eagles were able to extend their lead back to six, four straight free throws from reigning Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week junior guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth H.S.) brought the Cardinals back within two at 50-48 with :57 seconds remaining in the game.
Ball State would get the ball back with :20 seconds after an errant three-point attempt and a Perry rebound. After a timeout to set up a final play with :12.8 seconds left, turnovers by both teams gave BSU one last change under their basket with :4.2 seconds left on the clock.
Unfortunately, a drive and last-second shot by Davis was off the mark leading to the 50-48 Morehead State victory.
The Ball State University men's basketball team continues it three-game homestand and puts its perfect 5-0 MAC record on the line Thursday night, when it hosts Kent State in a 7 p.m. cross-division contest at Worthen Arena.
