For the first time this season, and the third time in his career at Ball State University, Chris Ames scored 10 points.
The senior guard averaged 4.2 points per game before Sunday's contest, and was one of four Cardinal players with double-figure points in the Cardinals' 69-58 win against Ohio University.
"I said it at the beginning of the year, and I'll say it again, I'll take 10 Chris Ames'," coach Ronny Thompson said. "He's just so full of energy and gives you so much positive energy out there on the floor. I think at times it becomes contagious."
Perhaps Ames had a little bit of encouragement against Ohio.
For the first time since he came to Ball State last season, his parents were in attendance when he took the floor.
"I wanted to get this win because my parents are here," Ames said. "I had to get this win for them. I can't have them come up here and we lost; I'd be moping around and things like that."
Ames inherits a lot from his parents, senior Skip Mills said.
"The night before the game I'm trying to get some sleep, and they came in about 5:30 [a.m.]," he said. "They are good spirits just like Chris is, so I woke up and I was laughing in my sleep when they were in there talking. They probably didn't know I was up, but his dad -¡-¡-¡- I think his dad is hilarious."
Ames is from Jackson, Miss., and his parents had never seen him play at Ball State before Sunday. That didn't stop his mom from being a fan, though.
"She's a big Ball State fan even though she never came to this campus or anything like that," Ames said. "Everything I get I have to bring it home to her."
Ames added six rebounds, his fourth career block and a steal in the victory.
He made several key hustle plays and tipped loose balls as the Cardinals battled a team where Ames was shorter than all but one of Ohio's players. He shot 5-of-6 from the field against Ohio, and is 34-of-60 this season.
"In practice I felt like I can be a threat," Ames said. "But I know that we have other players on the team that can shoot better than me and can do more things offensively. I feel like when the opportunity comes to me, I'm gonna do it positive. I'm not going to go out here and try and flip up an oopsy-daisy or something like that.
"Hey, by me scoring 10 points I guess everybody's going to think I'm a threat now, so it will leave open shots for everyone else."
While Ames put up more points than he had all season and has put in eight or more points in the last three games, coach Ronny Thompson isn't completely satisfied with his performance.
"I told the guys halfway through the game, 'Chris is going to give me a heart attack,'" he said. "Chris is like the little kitten around your house, because he's so cute and so nice and so fun to be around, but he's always knocking over the bowl of milk. And that's Chris. Chris will make three great plays and then throw the ball to the other team; make three great plays and then clobber someone when we're trying to make the clock run out."
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