Ball State University Athletics
Late Rally Falls Short for MBB versus EMU
By Doug Zaleski
BallStateSports.com
Ball State probably feels like it has been in a recurring nightmare during the second half of the Mid-American Conference men’s basketball season.
Each game seemingly has followed a similar script. The Cardinals fall behind in the first half, make a rally in the second half to get close in the final minutes, but can’t complete the comeback.
It happened again Tuesday in Worthen Arena when they trimmed a 14-point deficit with 4 minutes to play down to three with 37 seconds to go. The comeback attempt ended there, however, as Ball State fell 67-60 to Eastern Michigan.
“It’s just a matter of a simple play here and there,” Cardinals sophomore forward Franko House said. “Some games it’s ‘Are we going to knock down a shot?’ Other games it’s turnovers. It’s little stuff like that where we’re hurting ourselves.
“It’s all stuff we can fix. Hopefully this last game (on Friday) and going into the (Mid-American Conference) tournament we can turn it around and make better decisions. We’re getting good shots at the end of games, but we have to convert.”
Aye, there’s the rub.
The Cardinals (7-21, 2-15 MAC West) rallied from 14 down to within three as they pushed the ball up the floor and took advantage of a full-court press against the Eagles (18-12, 7-10 MAC West). Sean Sellers had five points in the 13-2 run that left Eastern Michigan with just a 61-58 lead with 37 seconds to play.
But the threat ended there as the Eagles went 6-for-6 at the line the rest of the way (they were 17-for-18 in the game) and the Cardinals made just one of their final four field-goal attempts.
Ball State shot 48 percent from the field in the second half, but overall coach James Whitford detected a lack of confidence in most of his shooters. The Cardinals hit .404 for the game.
“We certainly looked to me … it was one of the few times I’ve seen it where I thought we played with a lack of confidence,” he said.
House, who tied Bo Calhoun for team scoring honors with 13 points, thought the same thing.
“We had a lot of guys who were gun shy today,” House said. “We had shots we should have taken but didn’t because we were gun shy. We had shots we pump-faked and should have just shot it. … Once guys got more comfortable, I think we started knocking down shots in the second half.”
Senior center Matt Kamieniecki said despite coming up short in the win column the past 15 games, he and his teammates are focusing only on what’s in front of them.
“In the back of our minds we’re thinking about the losing streak we’ve been on, but you have to just keep pushing forward and take one game at a time, put the loss behind you, and focus on (the next game) Friday,” he said.
Sellers was the third Cardinal in double figures with 10 points. Calhoun led in rebounding with seven.
Ball State will end the regular season at home Friday with a 7 p.m. game against Northern Illinois. It will learn its opponent for the MAC Tournament that begins Monday after that game.