Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
10-5, 2-1MAC
Eastern Michigan
7-10, 2-1MAC
EMU Slips Past Men's Basketball On Buzzer Beater
January 14, 2012 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - In a reversal of fortune from Tuesday, the Ball State men's basketball team suffered a 51-48 setback to Eastern Michigan on a three-pointer with 1.5 second left in Mid-American Conference action Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena. Eastern Michigan out-scored the Cardinals 12-3 in the final 5:41 of the contest to move into a second-place tie in the MAC West Division with the Cardinals and Western Michigan.
"Obviously, this is a bad loss for us," head coach Billy Taylor said. "We did a number of things that weren't very smart. We didn't have the soundest play today and it caught up with us at the end. We have an eight-point lead in the second half and let that slip away from us. Our defense let us down in the second half as Eastern was able to get open shots down the stretch."
The Cardinals, who had topped Toledo four days earlier on a buzzer beater from senior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City), saw their record fall to 10-5 (2-1 MAC). Jones collected his fifth double-double of the season in Saturday's setback, leading all players with 11 rebounds and tying for team-high honors with 11 points. Also scoring double-figures for the Ball State was senior guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) with 11.
Antonio Green's three-pointer with 1.5 second left on the clock lifted the Eagles' record to 7-10 (2-1 MAC). Green finished the game with 11 points, two shy of Quintin Dailey's game-high 13 points. Jamell Harris led EMU with eight rebounds.
For the game, the Eastern Michigan defense limited the BSU offense to a 33.3 field goal percentage. EMU connected for a 47.5 rate of success, including a 57.9 effort in the second half.
The game started slowly as both teams' defenses were stiff in the opening eight minutes with Eastern Michigan holding an early 6-5 lead. The Eagles opened up to a 13-6 lead with 9:30 left as their zone defense kept the Cardinals' offensive at bay.
Ball State finally broke through against the zone and posted a 14-0 run to take a 20-13 lead. Sophomores Chris Bond (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) and Tyrae Robinson (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) ignited the offense with back-to-back baskets Jones scored four straight in the run.
Ball State closed out the half with a 27-21 lead as Davis hit a pair of free throws with 0.5 seconds left. Ball State connected on 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from the field but missed all six of its three-pointers in the opening half. Jones led all scorers with eight points and six rebounds in the first half while both Bond and Robinson added seven points.
Eastern Michigan connected on 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from the field but committed eight first half turnovers. The Eagles were paced by Austin Harper and Dailey who scored six points each in the opening frame.
Ball State opened up to a 35-27 lead just under six minutes into the second half as Davis nailed back-to-back three-pointers. The Eagles kept battling as they scored seven straight to narrow the gap to one at 35-34.
Ball State once again made a push and posted a 9-2 run to take a 44-36 lead with 6:15 left. Sophomore Jesse Berry (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson) nailed a three-pointer in the spurt while redshirt sophomore Tyler Koch (Winchester, Ind./Wright State) scored off a drive to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the afternoon at eight points.
Eastern Michigan ended the final 5:41 on a 12-3 run to take home the victory. The Eagles hit three three-pointers down the stretch as Dailey hit one and Green nailed a pair, including the game-winning basket on the final possession for EMU.
The Cardinals connected on just 14-of-42 (33.3%) from the field in the game and made just five second half field goals. Ball State hit just 3-of-16 (18.8%) from long range and only converted 63.0 percent (17-of-27) from the charity stripe.
Eastern Michigan conversely hit 19-of-40 (47.5%) from the field and hit 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from long range. The Eagles out-rebounded the Cardinals 28-27 and out-scored Ball State 20-18 in the paint.
Ball State hits the road for two MAC road games next week as it travels to Central Michigan Wednesday night and Northern Illinois Saturday.
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