Mount Pleasant, Mich. -- Senior guard Patrick "Petie" Jackson spoke to his Ball State teammates Friday night about playing with a sense of urgency to finish out the regular season.
Despite playing without injured center Lonnie Jones, Ball State responded to Jackson's request, overcoming a second-half deficit to defeat Central Michigan 81-77.
With the victory, the Cardinals (19-10, overall 12-6 MAC) claimed their first, outright Mid-American Conference West Division championship, and surpassed 11 league wins for just the second time in the last nine seasons.-á-á-á-á-á-á
Ball State had lost four of its last five road games before Saturday's win.-á-á-á
"I spoke from the heart," Jackson said. "We know our season could end with a loss in Cleveland, and we're not ready for (it to be over). We need to carry over this win and do some damage in the tourney."
Theron Smith led Ball State with 22 points and 14 rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season. Smith also blocked two shots and added two steals defensively, holding Central Michigan's (8-18, 5-13) 7-foot center Chris Kaman to just five points.
"He came out and thought that maybe with Jones not playing, he was going to have a field day," Central Michigan head coach Jay Smith said. "And (he) didn't concentrate or focus as much."
No one for Ball State, however, could stop Chippewa senior David Webber. Webber scored a game-high 35 points and put Central in front early in the first half.
Webber hit four of his first five shots and had 13 points at the 11:50 mark putting Central ahead 23-15. Ball State shot just 29 percent in the first half and trailed 39-32 at the break.
Chris Williams scored seven points during a 13-4 Ball State run that tied the game at 50 midway through the second half.
The Cardinals took the lead for good with 5:27 to play when Williams was credited with a basket on a Kaman goaltend to make it 65-63. It was Ball State's first lead since they jumped ahead 6-5.
Williams finished with 17 points in 18 minutes despite being bedridden the night before with a 100-degree fever.
We didn't know how much he would play," head coach Tim Buckley said. "He showed a lot of courage."
"I got tired pretty quickly," Williams said. "When I was in, I wanted to attack the basket instead of settling for jump shots all the time."
Jackson struggled shooting, finishing 1-10 from the field and ending a streak of 49 straight games with a 3-pointer.
"When the game was coming to an end, I realized I hadn't hit a three," Jackson said. "But we won, so I'm happy. It shows a lot of character for us to win without Lonnie and with me shooting poorly."
Ball State is the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament, and will have a first round bye. The team will play Thursday night at Gund Arena in Cleveland against the winner of today's Miami-Buffalo game. The Cardinals beat Buffalo 87-63 in Muncie, and split with Miami -- losing in Oxford 80-77, while winning at home 74-58.
Buckley said the team would practice Monday and Tuesday in Muncie and leave for Cleveland the following morning.
"We'll have practice Wednesday afternoon, shower quick, eat quick and watch the (Ball State) women play at 7."-á
Jones thinks his knee will be ready for Thursday.
"I'll be all right," he said.
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