As the final seconds ticked down in Wednesday's game, sophomore guard Jesse Berry rose up and hit one last three at the top of the circle to effectively end Ball State's nine-game losing streak in Mid-American Conference play.
Berry joined teammates Chris Bond and Aaron Adeoye for a laugh at center court before shaking hands after the team's 71-52 win against Central Michigan.
"I hope we can keep this going," Berry said with a smile. "Get this from one, to three, to five — keep it going all the way through the tournament."
While Wednesday's game ended a month-long stretch of disappointment, it further exposed how dependent Ball State is on guards Tyrae Robinson and Randy Davis heading into the final game before the MAC Tournament.
Unless the Cardinals post up senior Jarrod Jones on the block, no other player can consistently create shots outside of the perimeter duo.
Robinson, standing 6 feet and 2 inches high, is Ball State's best attacking threat off the dribble and knifes through defenses to get in the lane. Davis prefers a controlled, intellectual approach to manipulate defenses through the pick-and-roll.
Berry can break people off the dribble occasionally, but often gets out of control. He prefers to spot up in the corner for open three-pointers, which he did Wednesday. Berry led the Cardinals in scoring with 15 points including 3-of-3 from downtown.
"[I got open] mostly on ball penetration by Randy and Tyrae," Berry said. "They were getting into the lane easy and making plays."
Ball State recorded 18 assists on 25 shots in Wednesday's game and eight of those dimes — four a piece — came from Robinson and Davis.
In the postgame press conference, Central Michigan's coach Ernie Zeigler said Davis is the emotional leader on the floor while Robinson is a perfect complement.
"I thought Randy Davis just willed them [to victory]," Zeigler said. "Randy was a good kick start getting him back. He did a really good job of getting his team to take care of business at home."
Zeigler also said Robinson has improved his game.
"He's a guy you really have to guard. When you have two guys out there that equally can start your offense and run the offense, it makes it hard to decide who you want to key in on and take away," Zeigler said. "I thought Tyrae has been playing some really good basketball watching them as of late."
Four players scored in double figures for the Cardinals including Robinson and Davis who had 10 and 12 points, respectively. Bond was the other with 13 points. Three of his five acrobatic field goals came off dishes from Robinson and Davis.
Davis has been limited in the previous two games because of an injury to his left foot. This was his first game back after missing the Eastern Michigan game and only ten minutes of action against Western Michigan.
Ball State lost both of those games by a combined 28 points.
Robinson's influence is also undeniable. He was limited to 20 minutes Wednesday because of foul trouble. When he was out, the offense became stagnant and the ball died in the hands of many Ball State players.
"Tyrae getting that fourth foul puts more pressure on Randy and Jesse," Taylor said. "Having Tyrae out there — he can almost break a press by himself. It's a nice advantage to have a guy that can just dribble through and then he can find guys and get us easy opportunities.
Ball State was up by as many as 19 points in the second half and Taylor said this was another game the team needed to practice holding a lead. He wanted to use time and score to wind the game down like he's done before. In previous games, this has cost Ball State the game.
That wasn't the case Wednesday as Ball State secured at least a 10 seed in the MAC Tournament.
The Cardinals defense held the Chippewas to 52 points, the lowest point total allowed since Jan. 18, the last time the two teams played.
"That's Ball State defense — that's what we're known for," Berry said. "The last few games, we've been silent — not talking. Today, we did a great job talking and calling for help when we needed it. We defended the ball well and kept them out of the paint."
Central Michigan was led in scoring by senior forward Andre Coimbra with 16 points and sophomore guard Trey Zeigler with 14 points.
Zeigler scored 12 of those in the first half on floaters and layups in the lane. Bond closed the distance and got in his chest to frustrate him in the second half. So much so, he got in Bond's face after another no-call on his drive attempt. Bond pushed him and the two were issued technical fouls.
While negative, the moment showed energy and confidence lacking in some of Ball State's recent performances.
With one game remaining, Northern Illinois on Saturday, Taylor said all the struggles don't matter if you make a deep run in the tournament.
"Hopefully, this will give us some confidence on both ends of the floor," Taylor said. "Ultimately, it's really about how you finish. If we can finish strong here at home, that will give us momentum going into the MAC Tournament."
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