The Ball State men's basketball team's Charles Bass, a transfer from Ohio State, played with the Wright State's Zach Williams while with the Buckeyes during the 2003-04 season and competed against him during practice. Even though Bass must still sit out until after the semester ends, he was able to provide inside knowledge on Williams's tendencies on the offensive side during the Cardinals' practices leading up to the game.
With Bass's help, Terrance Chapman held Williams to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field. Williams also shot just 1 of 5 from the free throw line in 38 minutes of action. Leading up to the game Williams averaged 12 points and is the Raiders' main inside scoring threat. Against Toledo, Williams finished with a season-high 19 points.
"Charles gave us some tips on how to play him defensively that were helpful a lot," Chapman said.
"(Bass) really emphasized to me that Williams was going to go to the middle (on offense) no matter what side of the block he was on. He was going to try and go up-and-under, so we really tried to work on staying down, keeping our hands up, and make him shoot over you," coach Tim Buckley said. "Our perimeter guys did a pretty good job of helping recover and helping the (inside players)."
STUDENTS POPULATE NEW "NEST"
John Gramelspacher won the Name the Student Section contest with his entry, "The Nest." Several students entered "The Nest" as their nomination, but because Gramelspacher was the first "Nest" entry, he won. More than 200 entries were originally submitted, and that number was cut down to 50 for players, coaches, and staff to vote for the "Sweet Sixteen." From there, 10,000 votes were submitted as the choices were narrowed down in a tournament-style bracket.
"The number of hits on the Web site was excellent. It was a good way to get students involved, by them getting the entries in and voting," athletic director Bubba Cunningham said.
The first 250 students received free t-shirts that said "The Nest." The student section has been moved behind the east side basket.
"I think they look great. It's a good backdrop. It gets the students closer to the action," Cunningham said.
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