For the third time this season, the Ball State University men's basketball team was able to force a more highly-regarded opponent to play hard the whole game, but were unable to get a victory, as it lost to St. Joseph's University 74-63.
Ball State is now 0-5 on the season, although the last four defeats have been by 11 points or fewer.
The Cardinals were immediately forced into playing from behind as St. Joseph's used an early 3-point barrage from forward Pat Calathes to stake the Hawks to an 11-point lead less than four minutes into the game. Ball State stormed back to take a lead at 23-22, but it was the only lead the Cardinals would manage in the game.
Freshman guard Rashaun McLemore led Ball State in scoring, managing a career-high 15 points. Senior guard Peyton Stovall added 13 and three other Cardinals scored at least seven for Ball State's most balanced offensive performance of the season.
The Cardinals were done in by a 1:30 stretch of the game in which they scored on two straight possessions. In that stretch, St. Joseph's netted three 3-pointers to pull ahead by 10 with less than eight minutes left. Ball State could not pull closer than seven points from that point on.
The Hawks shot 46 percent from 3-point range for the game, while Ball State shot 42 percent overall. However, the Cardinals hit seven treys of their own, tying a season high.
St. Joseph's out rebounded Ball State 30-24, the Cardinals' largest rebounding deficit of the season. Included in the Hawks' total were eight offensive boards.
The Cardinals begin a three-game, in-state road swing on Saturday night at Valparaiso University.
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