Ball State knew that height would play a factor in its Wednesday evening loss against Eastern Michigan, but it came in an unconventional way.
Eastern Michigan’s center Da’Shonte Riley dominated the game without attempting a single field goal. Instead, the 7-foot tall senior blocked six field goal attempts and shut down Ball State’s 6-foot-9 Majok Majok, who committed 7 turnovers.
“My main goal is just to protect the paint regardless of who they have on the opposing team,” Riley said. “When guys drive, I’m able to get my arms up and make them second guess making that drop down pass.”
Riley’s 7-foot-6 wingspan made it hard for Majok to rebound, score or pass to his teammates.
“He’s a big threat in the paint,” Ball State guard Kindon Crowder said. “He was just long and wide; he made it hard for our bigs to make plays on him.”
The Eagles played in a 2-3 zone for nearly 40 minutes. Eastern Michigan held Ball State to just 18 points in the paint, as it used its length to disrupt offensive flow in the paint.
“Going against zone you’re not going to shoot a lot of free throws really,” Jesse Berry said. “Every time we got in the paint we turned it over or Da’Shonte Riley was altering shots or he was blocking them.”
The 4-18 Cardinals committed 22 turnovers, which led to 24 points for the 14-10 Eagles.
“In all considering, if you would have told me we would have scored 62 points against (Eastern Michigan) I’d say, ‘Hey, that’s enough for us to win the game,’” Whitford said. “Defensively, we didn’t hold our end of the bargain, they scored almost a point per possession — that was to me the difference.”
Crowder provided valuable offense for the Cardinals off the bench, finishing with a career-high 10 points. According to Whitford, Crowder was used because of his three-point shooting and scoring ability.
“He’s not as strong defensively as certainly Mark or Quinten are, but he’s a much better shooter.” Whitford said. “He allowed us to score more.”
Berry paced the Cardinals with 17 points on 5-10 shooting from three-point distance. Zavier Turner chipped in nine of 15 points from three-point distance as well. Chris Bond finished with 12 points as the Cardinals drop to 1-10 in the Mid-American Conference play.
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