Tuesday, November 9
Statesboro, Ga.
7 p.m.
Ball State University
0-1,0-0MAC
71
at
82
Georgia Southern
1-0,0-0Sun Belt
1
2
F
Ball State
41
30
71
Ga. Southern
41
41
82
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Bumbalough Posts a Career High, Cardinals Fall to Eagles
November 09, 2021 | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. – Luke Bumbalough recorded a career-high 21 points behind a 5-for-9 performance from 3-point range as the Ball State men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season on the road. The Cardinals (0-1) fell to the Georgia Southern Eagles (1-0) 82-71.
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 8-4 lead behind sharpshooting from Bumbalough and Miryne Thomas as each knocked down a 3-pointer. After a Payton Sparks free throw, Bumbalough drained another 3-ball and extended the BSU lead to 12-6 with 16:40 left in the first half.
After Georgia Southern made a free throw, Bumbalough knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game and extended BSU's lead to 15-7 with 14:58 left in the half. The Eagles managed to close the gap to 15-12, before Bumbalough made his fourth-consecutive 3-pointer and put BSU up 17-12. Georgia Southern pulled within two points, before Jaylin Sellers hit a 3-pointer and put Ball State up 20-15 with just under 11 minutes left in the half.
Sparks extended the BSU lead to 26-21, but Georgia Southern went on a 7-0 run and gained its first lead of the contest with 4:59 in the half. The Eagles extended their lead to 35-31 with three minutes left in the first. Demarius Jacobs made two free throws and cut the lead to 35-33. After a layup by the Eagles made the score 37-33, Jalen Windham scored four unanswered points on a free throw and a 3-pointer after a Georgia Southern technical four.
The two squads went back-and-forth the remainder of the half and went to the break tied at 41-41.
Georgia Southern scored the first points of the second half, but Thomas made two free throws to tie the game. Thomas then made a great defensive play on a steal that led to a fast-break dunk by Sellers. Sellers followed with a layup and put the Cardinals up 47-43 just three minutes into the second.
After Bumbalough hit another 3-pointer and put Ball State on top 50-45, momentum started to shift in favor of Georgia Southern. The Eagles went on an 8-0 run and took a 53-50 lead with 13 minutes left in the game.
The Cardinals were resilient and battled back to take a 60-58 lead after Sparks converted a key and-1 opportunity with 7:54 left in regulation.
Bumbalough knocked down a jumper and pulled the Cardinals within one, 63-62, with just under seven minutes left in game. The Eagles gained control of the game as they went on a 7-1 run and claimed a 70-63 lead with 4:49 left on the clock. Windham hit a 3-pointer to pull within four, but Georgia Southern went on another run and extended its lead to 77-66 with two minutes left.
Ball State went on a 5-0 run and cut the deficit to 77-71, but Georgia Southern ended the game on a 5-0 run and won the contest 82-71.
Despite the loss the Cardinals have plenty of positives to look at, including Bumbalough with his career-high 21 points. He made five 3-pointers, which is one shy of tying a career best. Windham finished the game with 12 points, two shy of tying a personal best, and tied for a team-high two steals. Thomas recorded an 11-point performance and tied a team-high two steals along with a team-high three assists. Sparks was huge on the glass for the Cardinals as he collected a game-high 12 rebounds in his debut. As a team, the Cardinals averaged 36.7 percent from long range, which was an improvement from last season's average of 34.2 percent.
Gedi Jouzapaitis led the Eagles with 15 points, while Kamari Brown added 12 points. Andrie Savrasov, Prince Toyambi, and Cam Bryant all finished with 11 points. Tre Cobbs made it six Georgia Southern players in double digits with 10 points.
The Cardinals return to the friendly confines of Worthen Arena on Saturday, Nov. 13. Ball State battles Omaha with a scheduled noon tip.
From the Coach – Head Coach James Whitford
"I thought Payton's most encouraging thing was probably how dominant he was at the rim at both ends getting rebounds. He was the most physical guy out there. You can tell he has a chance to be a really good player. That's the Payton we see every day in practice. Time is on our side for two reasons. One, we're young and we just got all these new guys with a ton of youth. Secondly, time is on our side because we're a hardworking, high character group. They come to practice every day to work. Some of the stuff we didn't do as well, we'll get better at. We did some good things."
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*For tickets call 1-888-BSU-TICKET or 765-285-1474, or click here.
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 8-4 lead behind sharpshooting from Bumbalough and Miryne Thomas as each knocked down a 3-pointer. After a Payton Sparks free throw, Bumbalough drained another 3-ball and extended the BSU lead to 12-6 with 16:40 left in the first half.
After Georgia Southern made a free throw, Bumbalough knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game and extended BSU's lead to 15-7 with 14:58 left in the half. The Eagles managed to close the gap to 15-12, before Bumbalough made his fourth-consecutive 3-pointer and put BSU up 17-12. Georgia Southern pulled within two points, before Jaylin Sellers hit a 3-pointer and put Ball State up 20-15 with just under 11 minutes left in the half.
Sparks extended the BSU lead to 26-21, but Georgia Southern went on a 7-0 run and gained its first lead of the contest with 4:59 in the half. The Eagles extended their lead to 35-31 with three minutes left in the first. Demarius Jacobs made two free throws and cut the lead to 35-33. After a layup by the Eagles made the score 37-33, Jalen Windham scored four unanswered points on a free throw and a 3-pointer after a Georgia Southern technical four.
The two squads went back-and-forth the remainder of the half and went to the break tied at 41-41.
Georgia Southern scored the first points of the second half, but Thomas made two free throws to tie the game. Thomas then made a great defensive play on a steal that led to a fast-break dunk by Sellers. Sellers followed with a layup and put the Cardinals up 47-43 just three minutes into the second.
After Bumbalough hit another 3-pointer and put Ball State on top 50-45, momentum started to shift in favor of Georgia Southern. The Eagles went on an 8-0 run and took a 53-50 lead with 13 minutes left in the game.
The Cardinals were resilient and battled back to take a 60-58 lead after Sparks converted a key and-1 opportunity with 7:54 left in regulation.
Bumbalough knocked down a jumper and pulled the Cardinals within one, 63-62, with just under seven minutes left in game. The Eagles gained control of the game as they went on a 7-1 run and claimed a 70-63 lead with 4:49 left on the clock. Windham hit a 3-pointer to pull within four, but Georgia Southern went on another run and extended its lead to 77-66 with two minutes left.
Ball State went on a 5-0 run and cut the deficit to 77-71, but Georgia Southern ended the game on a 5-0 run and won the contest 82-71.
Despite the loss the Cardinals have plenty of positives to look at, including Bumbalough with his career-high 21 points. He made five 3-pointers, which is one shy of tying a career best. Windham finished the game with 12 points, two shy of tying a personal best, and tied for a team-high two steals. Thomas recorded an 11-point performance and tied a team-high two steals along with a team-high three assists. Sparks was huge on the glass for the Cardinals as he collected a game-high 12 rebounds in his debut. As a team, the Cardinals averaged 36.7 percent from long range, which was an improvement from last season's average of 34.2 percent.
Gedi Jouzapaitis led the Eagles with 15 points, while Kamari Brown added 12 points. Andrie Savrasov, Prince Toyambi, and Cam Bryant all finished with 11 points. Tre Cobbs made it six Georgia Southern players in double digits with 10 points.
The Cardinals return to the friendly confines of Worthen Arena on Saturday, Nov. 13. Ball State battles Omaha with a scheduled noon tip.
From the Coach – Head Coach James Whitford
"I thought Payton's most encouraging thing was probably how dominant he was at the rim at both ends getting rebounds. He was the most physical guy out there. You can tell he has a chance to be a really good player. That's the Payton we see every day in practice. Time is on our side for two reasons. One, we're young and we just got all these new guys with a ton of youth. Secondly, time is on our side because we're a hardworking, high character group. They come to practice every day to work. Some of the stuff we didn't do as well, we'll get better at. We did some good things."
Follow the Cardinals
*For tickets call 1-888-BSU-TICKET or 765-285-1474, or click here.
Team Stats
BSU
GS
FG%
.439
.526
3FG%
.367
.333
FT%
.476
.652
RB
35
36
TO
17
12
STL
8
12
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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