Cardinals grab win to get back to .500

Late in the first half of Saturday’s game, Ball State’s Matt Kamieniecki flashed high post, received the ball and immediately passed cross-court to Chris Bond for a thunderous one-handed dunk.

The junior forwards took advantage of holes South Dakota left in the middle of its zone defense all game long.

Three of Kamieniecki’s career-high eight assists resulted in Bond buckets as the Cardinals (4-4) dissected the Coyote’s (4-6) zone to win 62-51 in front of a crowd of 2,884 fans at Worthen Arena.

“The game plan was to get the ball in the middle and facilitate from there,” Kamieniecki said. “We talked about how they were going to kind of sag off. The threes were going to be open, but we still wanted to penetrate and get in those gaps. Just get into the middle and find people for those easy dump downs and layups.”

Kamieniecki faced little ball pressure on the catch as South Dakota players sat back and let him survey the defense.

That’s when Bond cut and created easy angles to receive passes on the baseline. He caught the ball close enough to the basket where one dribble got him to the rim for easy baskets.

“I was just trying to play behind the defense — kind of like I always do,” Bond said. “I was looking for those passes and I knew he would find me if I was open. I just tried to catch the ball and finish.”

Despite getting good shots for shots for most of the game, South Dakota’s bench production from forward Steve Tecker — 11 points in the first half — helped tie the score at 26 at halftime.

Ball State coach Billy Taylor said the team didn’t make any major adjustments, instead stressing a commitment to not settling for long jumpers in the second half.

Freshman guard Marcus Posley took the message to heart, scoring nine of his 12 points after the break. Taylor rewarded him with a season-high 29 minutes of action, including 17 of the possible 20 second-half minutes.

“I’ve got confidence now, but knowing when to take the shot is the biggest part,” Posley said. “Once I hit one, another one fell and then another one fell.”

The 6-foot, 201-pound point guard said he recognized when his team needed a boost Saturday.

With the score tied at 39, Posley hit two pull-up jumpers to jumpstart a 12-2 run that gave Ball State a comfortable lead.

Ball State never trailed again as South Dakota started throwing up three-pointers over the final seven-plus minutes of regulation.

“As the game went on, I think our defense got tougher,” Bond said. “We weren’t allowing easy shots up — every shot they took was contested.”

Bond and senior guard Jauwan Scaife joined Posley in double-figure scoring with 11 and 14 points, respectively.

Saturday’s win is half of the battle against the Coyotes. The Cardinals travel to Vermillion, S.D., to play the team in the second half of a home-and-home series Dec. 15.

“It’s very important [to win this first game],” Kamieniecki said. “We just have to look at the film now to see things we need to improve on for the next game a week from now.”