Men’s Hoops Suffers 79-74 Setback at Bowling Green

Saturday, January 21

Bowling Green, OH

2:30 PM ET

Ball State University

12-7 (3-3)

Bowling Green

8-11 (2-4)

Ball State

Bowling Green

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Men’s Hoops Suffers 79-74 Setback at Bowling Green

January 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball

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Cardinals see three-game winning streak come to an end

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The will was there Saturday for the Ball State men's basketball team, but the Cardinals just could not get over the hump against Bowling Green.

Ball State trailed by as many as 15 points before cutting the lead all the way to one on four occasions. Bowling Green answered every time.

At the end of a high-energy but foul-laden 40 minutes, the Falcons held off the Cardinals for a 79-74 victory at the Stroh Center. It was Ball State's first loss in four games.

"I told the guys in the locker room, we did a lot of good things," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "I thought we played the right way. But at the end of the day, the reason we lost this game is we got outrebounded by a team that has really struggled in that area."

Rebounding has not been an area of struggle for Ball State (12-7, 3-3 MAC) this season. The Cardinals had been outrebounded by only three of 18 opponents entering the day. But Bowling Green won the battle of the boards 45-37 and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds.

Demajeo Wiggins led the way with 11 boards and also had 14 points, while Zack Denny led the Falcons (8-11, 2-4 MAC) with 17 points.

Ball State placed four scorers in double figures, led by Ryan Weber and Tayler Persons with 16 each. Francis Kiapway added 11, and Trey Moses had 10.

Weber scored 13 of his points in the second half, including six straight for BSU to trim the Bowling Green lead to 55-54 with 9:44 to play.

"He's been playing and practicing the right way every day," Whitford said. "He's been a complete team guy. Usually when that happens, your play starts to get better. That's what you're seeing with him."

Wiggins answered Weber's spurt with a jumper on the other end as a precursor of what would happen every time Ball State came agonizingly close.

The Cardinals were mixing and matching lineups down the stretch, as Persons, Moses and Franko House all played with four fouls. House eventually fouled out. The teams were whistled for a combined 58 fouls on the afternoon.

Bowling Green held onto its slim lead the rest of the way. The Falcons were up 77-72 with 11 seconds to play, but the Cardinals made one last push.

Persons drew a foul and hit both free throws to make it a three-point game. Ball State then forced a turnover and had possession with an in-bounds play from deep in the corner with 9 seconds to play. But Bowling Green batted away a long entry pass and sealed the win.

Ball State had an uncharacteristic shooting night, making only 39 percent from the floor after averaging better than 50 percent over its three-game winning streak. The team made 8 of 25 shots from beyond the arc (32 percent).

"I thought we had a lot of good shots tonight, and I thought we had a lot of good shots at the rim in the first half," Whitford said. "We competed for 40 minutes; the game didn't go our way."

Ball State will hit the road again to play Tuesday at Eastern Michigan. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. on the American Sports Network and ESPN3.

The team will then return home to host Western Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first game of a men's/women's doubleheader as the Cardinals celebrate 25 years of Worthen Arena.