Thursday, March 10
Cleveland, Ohio
Game 4
Ball State University
67
vs
77
Ohio
Photo by: Jeff Harwell
Cardinals’ Season Comes to End in MAC Quarterfinals
March 10, 2022 | Men's Basketball
CLEVELAND – The Ball State men's basketball team season came to an end Thursday night in the Mid-American Conference Tournament inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse against Ohio. Payton Sparks led Cardinals with his 12th double-double, but BSU fell to Ohio 77-67.
Sparks led the team with 20 points and 14 rebounds for back-to-back games with a double-double. Tyler Cochran added 16 points to go along with his game-high four steals. Cochran and Demarius Jacobs tied for the team lead in assists with three each.
The Cardinals opened the game strong and saw a 12-7 lead at the first media timeout with 15:00 left in the half. During the stretch, Cochran was hot from behind the arc and was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
Ball State continued to play tough and held a 21-15 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Bobcats went on an 11-5 run and tied the game 26-26 with 4:55 left in the first stanza. Ohio added six more points to the run and took a 32-26 lead with 3:42.
The Cardinals were resilient and clawed their way back within one at the intermission. Ball State ended the half on a 9-4 run and trailed 36-35 at the break.
Ohio opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take a 46-35 lead with 18:12 left in regulation. After the teams went back-and-forth for a few buckets, the Cardinals went on a 10-4 run and pulled within four, 55-51 with 9:32 left in the game.
The Bobcats went on a 17-0 run that ended with 6:11 left to play, which led to a 72-51 lead. The Cardinals did not stop playing despite the deficit. Ball State ended the game on a 16-5 run to make the final score 77-67.
Mark Sears led the Bobcats with a double-double behind a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Sears added a game-high five assists along with one steal. Jason Carter collected a double-double with 20 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Ben Vander Plas posted a 14-point performance, while Miles Brown chipped in with 13 points.
Ball State finished the season 14-17 overall and 9-10 in the MAC. The season produced the MAC Freshman of the Year, an All-MAC Third Team honoree, and two MAC All-Freshman Team recipients.
From the Coach – Head Coach James Whitford
"When Miryne was out of the game and they went inside to Vander Plas early and got a little 8-0 run, I thought it gave them a lot of confidence in the second half. Where we defended well in the post in the first half, we did not defend well in the post in the second half, and I thought that not only hurt us inside, but it led to a barrage of 3's for them across the board. I watch this Ohio team and I think about the last time there was a team that had two guys on the all-freshman team and the MAC Freshman of the Year, and it was these guys [Ohio] and over the next four years they went and won about 80-some games. That's the part that I have to make sure that our guys understand and where I think we could be headed here for the next few years. Disappointed to lose the game but yet some valuable experience in a group that's going to be back and hungry as ever going forward."
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Sparks led the team with 20 points and 14 rebounds for back-to-back games with a double-double. Tyler Cochran added 16 points to go along with his game-high four steals. Cochran and Demarius Jacobs tied for the team lead in assists with three each.
The Cardinals opened the game strong and saw a 12-7 lead at the first media timeout with 15:00 left in the half. During the stretch, Cochran was hot from behind the arc and was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range.
Ball State continued to play tough and held a 21-15 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Bobcats went on an 11-5 run and tied the game 26-26 with 4:55 left in the first stanza. Ohio added six more points to the run and took a 32-26 lead with 3:42.
The Cardinals were resilient and clawed their way back within one at the intermission. Ball State ended the half on a 9-4 run and trailed 36-35 at the break.
Ohio opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take a 46-35 lead with 18:12 left in regulation. After the teams went back-and-forth for a few buckets, the Cardinals went on a 10-4 run and pulled within four, 55-51 with 9:32 left in the game.
The Bobcats went on a 17-0 run that ended with 6:11 left to play, which led to a 72-51 lead. The Cardinals did not stop playing despite the deficit. Ball State ended the game on a 16-5 run to make the final score 77-67.
Mark Sears led the Bobcats with a double-double behind a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Sears added a game-high five assists along with one steal. Jason Carter collected a double-double with 20 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Ben Vander Plas posted a 14-point performance, while Miles Brown chipped in with 13 points.
Ball State finished the season 14-17 overall and 9-10 in the MAC. The season produced the MAC Freshman of the Year, an All-MAC Third Team honoree, and two MAC All-Freshman Team recipients.
From the Coach – Head Coach James Whitford
"When Miryne was out of the game and they went inside to Vander Plas early and got a little 8-0 run, I thought it gave them a lot of confidence in the second half. Where we defended well in the post in the first half, we did not defend well in the post in the second half, and I thought that not only hurt us inside, but it led to a barrage of 3's for them across the board. I watch this Ohio team and I think about the last time there was a team that had two guys on the all-freshman team and the MAC Freshman of the Year, and it was these guys [Ohio] and over the next four years they went and won about 80-some games. That's the part that I have to make sure that our guys understand and where I think we could be headed here for the next few years. Disappointed to lose the game but yet some valuable experience in a group that's going to be back and hungry as ever going forward."
Follow the Cardinals
*For tickets call 1-888-BSU-TICKET or 765-285-1474, or click here.
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