It took almost two months, but Ronny Thompson earned his first road win Friday.
Ball State University's men's basketball team defeated Central Michigan University 64-57.
The Cardinals (6-12, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) were led by Peyton Stovall and Skip Mills who each scored 17 points. Anthony Newell, Chris Ames and D'Andre Peyton each added eight points. Newell had a game-high nine rebounds.
"Ball State is a much better team than its record," Central Michigan coach Ernie Zeigler said.
The Cardinals started strong, forcing the Chippewas to call a time-out 43 seconds into the game. The Cardinals never trailed and earned back-to-back wins for the first time since the start of the season.
The Cardinals shot 49 percent from the field throughout the game, their highest shooting percentage of the season. Ball State's seven 3-point attempts tied a season-low.
Ball State had eight steals and 18 points off turnovers. They also had more points in the paint and more fast break points than Central Michigan.
"I think we are becoming more familiar with ourselves and understanding what we are doing," Thompson said.-á "The thing I am proud of is that we are being unselfish.-áWe are using-áour second, third and fourth options on offense, and as a coach, that's exciting to see."
Micah Rollin had 13 minutes of playing time and fouled out of the contest. Rollin scored four points for the Cardinals and turned the ball over four times.
With the win, Ball State is continuing to turn around its season. After losing six straight games, the Cardinals have won their last two games, holding significant leads in the closing moments.
"It feels good, but we can't relax," Stovall said. "We know we have a lot of work left to do and a lot of games left to play.-áTonight was a total team effort.-á If we continue to play like this, we know good things can happen."
The Cardinals will look to win three games in a row for the first time since February of 2005 when they take on Kent State University at home Wednesday.
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