Well, one more game has turned into another one more game. Ball State (16-16, 7-12 MAC) took down higher-seeded Eastern Michigan (15-17, 9-9 MAC) 61-43 on the road Monday in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
The win put the Cardinals in the second round for a fourth consecutive year. They will square off with Bowling Green in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday. Here’s how the Cardinals got there.
Third time’s the charm
Monday was the third meeting between the Cardinals and Eagles this season and their second in seven days. Eastern Michigan came away victorious in each of the regular-season contests, but Ball State was able to get the job done when it mattered most.
In their first meeting Jan. 8, redshirt junior forward Tahjai Teague had a career performance for the Cardinals. He recorded career highs in points (28) and rebounds (14) and led the team in both categories. Despite his efforts, the Cardinals fell 84-82 in double overtime.
Matchup No. 2 featured much of the same. Teague finished with another double-double, and the Eagles once again came out on top, 68-61.
Redshirt senior guard Tayler Persons said it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, and the Cardinals backed up that statement when they met the Eagles a third time. Ball State held Eastern Michigan to 43 points on 29.4 percent shooting, and the 11-seeded Cardinals got back in the win column with an 18-point victory.
Tale of two halves
Eastern Michigan went into halftime with a 29-23 lead. The Eagles were shooting 15 percent better than the Cardinals from the field and 23 percent better from downtown. Their lead was as large as 10 early on, but the second half was a different story.
The Cardinals went on an 11-0 run to start the second half, and they never looked back, taking and keeping the lead for the last almost 18 minutes. Ball State’s lead didn’t dwindle either. Once it took the advantage, the deficit kept increasing.
The Cardinals held the Eagles to 14 second-half points and outscored them by 24. Eastern Michigan simply couldn’t make shots in the final 20 minutes. After sinking five 3-pointers in the first half, the Eagles failed to make one in the second. Plus, their field-goal percentage was 14.8 percent.
Time to shine
The Eagles trimmed the Cardinals’ lead to five with five minutes to go, and that’s when Persons decided to take matters into his own hands.
After an Eastern Michigan turnover, Persons ran the fast break and scored on a mid-range jump shot. The Eagles missed a 3-pointer, and Persons made them pay by drilling another jumper on the fast break. The Eagles responded with a bucket, but Persons put the icing on the cake with a three on the next possession.
Those three straight baskets gave Ball State a double-digit lead with three minutes remaining, and it was more than enough to lock up the win.
Containing Thompson
The Cardinals got used to hearing James Thompson’s name during their first two games against him. In game one, Thompson had 18 points and 19 rebounds. The next, he one-upped himself, going for 20 points and 23 boards.
Ball State head coach James Whitford said his team needed to find a happy medium when defending Thompson, and it seemed to do so. The Cardinals held him to four points Monday, and while he still pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, it was still less than half of his production in their previous two meetings.
Contact Zach Piatt with any comments at zapiatt@bsu.edu or on Twitter @zachpiatt13.
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