TERRE HAUTE -- If you were to believe Ball State coach TimBuckley, it would almost seem like the Cardinals forget to bringsome of their defense on road trips.
For the second time in as many tries, the men's basketball teamfell on the road. But unlike last week, the Cards nearly stole awin in the final minutes. BSU (3-2) was unable to get a shot off inits final possession, falling 66-65 at Indiana State (3-3) Saturdaynight.
However, the chief culprit in Buckley's mind was his team'sdefensive effort -- rather, a lack of it.
"(We had) poor demeanor, lack of aggressiveness and toughness,"Buckley said. "We weren't active. It was a poor defensive effortall around."
Instead, it was the Sycamores' defense that put together thebiggest stop. After ISU's Tyson Schnitker missed the first foulshot of a one-and-one, Cameron Echols rebounded to give Ball Statethe ball with 14 seconds left. Freshman Peyton Stovall dribbledtoward his right, where the pass to classmate Darren Yates wasdeflected before reaching its target. Yates became trapped in adouble team along the baseline. He muscled a pass back to Stovallon the wing, but the point guard could not get a shot away quicklyand time expired.
In Stovall's mind, the futile attempt epitomized the Cards'struggles at the Hulman Center.
"We didn't execute the whole game," he said, "and it showed atthe end.
"I didn't realize it (how little time he had), otherwise I'dhave gotten it up. It should never have come to that point."
Ball State was somewhat fortunate to get in that positionoriginally. The Sycamores hit 4-of-5 3-pointers in jumping out toan early 16-6 lead, but Ball State erased that deficit with an 11-2run to move ahead 28-26 and carried a 37-33 lead into halftime.
Indiana State then led 66-58 with less than four minutes to gobut would not score again.
With 3:25 remaining Stovall hit a pair of free throws. TerranceChapman took a steal in for a dunk to bring the Cardinals withinfour. After ISU's Catrel Green missed his first foul shot and theball went out of bounds to BSU, Dennis Trammell canned a 3-pointerfrom the top of the wing with 1:08 left.
Chapman drew a charge on Green to get the Cards the ball backwith 41.2 left, but Trammell missed a short runner. The Sycamoresthen stymied Ball State's last attempt.
"As a program struggling to get our honor back, it was importantto hang on and win," said Indiana State coach Royce Waltman, whoseteam ended a five-game losing streak to Ball State. "There was notimeout (before the final possession), so there was nothing to talkabout. The coaching thing is done, and the playing is moreimportant."
Coming in, it was important for Ball State to hold ISU guardsDavid Moss and Marcus Howard under their averages. The Cardsaccomplished neither objective, as Moss tallied 24 points and fiveassists and Howard put up 16 points.
"Very poor," was how Buckley termed the execution of that gameplan. "You've got to follow the game plan if you're going to besuccessful on the road.
"We play great defense at home. Hopefully when we go to adifferent building, we'll play good defense and give ourselves achance to win."
Freshman Skip Mills hit 5-of-6 shots and notched a career-high13 points off the bench to pace Ball State. Robert Owens scored 10,all of it in the first half. Echols also scored 10 points andgrabbed eight rebounds. Trammell and Yates (three tries) added nineapiece.
The Cardinals are at IUPUI on Saturday.
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