Four players scored in double figures, and Ball State University's men's basketball team made more than 60 percent of its shots in the second half for a 69-57 victory against Ohio University.
The Cardinals (7-13, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) used two big runs, a 9-0 run in the first half and a 10-1 run in the second, to beat the Bobcats (13-7, 4-3 MAC).
"We just knew we had to get this win today, so everyone just came out with a lot of intensity," senior guard Chris Ames said. "We lost the last game because of our defense, and we felt like we weren't going to let this game slip out of our hands because of our defense."
Skip Mills led the Cardinals with 20 points. Anthony Newell added 19, Peyton Stovall added 12 and Ames had 10. Mills also had five rebounds, a season-high five assists and tied his career-high with five steals.
"We stepped up as a team," Mills said. "Coach was telling me that if I'm going to be 'that dude' I have to step up and make plays. That was a big focus on me, when they were starting to make a run - not necessarily scoring - but I wanted to do something to stop the run, stop the bleeding."
The Cardinals held the Bobcats to 57 points, a season-low for Ohio, and out-rebounded the second best rebounding team in the conference 38-to-25. Ohio had nine boards in the second half.
Ohio, who has five players averaging more than ten points per game, had two players in double figures and the five starters were the only ones to score in the game.
"I thought we had to just man-up and defend today," coach Ronny Thompson said. "I told our guys 'I don't know who to look for help from.'"
Micah Rollin had six points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds for the Cardinals.
"Micah can affect a game alone with his presence, and he did that today," Thompson said. "He got on the boards and got some rebounds. Every night is not going to be a scoring night for Micah. For us to be successful Micah has to rebound the ball, block shots and clog up the middle. We'll take less scoring from Micah if he can do all that."
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