Seemingly every player from Ball State and Wright State experienced shooting struggles Wednesday in Worthen Arena -- all except Peyton Stovall.
And seemingly every time the Ball State men's basketball team needed a big basket, Stovall was there to make the play, as the Cardinals (2-1) never trailed and won their home opener 61-54.
Like the team's first two games, Stovall was again the Cards' leading scorer, netting 22 points to go with five assists and five rebounds.
"Peyton just has it going right now, and he knew some of his teammates were struggling," BSU coach Tim Buckley said. "I think it's something he wants, but I think we've got three or four others guys on the team that can do that."
Stovall's biggest plays were both three-pointers in the second half. The first came after Wright State's Zakee Boyd drained a trio of foul shots, capping a 13-5 run to bring the Raiders within 39-38 with 6:20 remaining. Stovall pulled up off a pick-and-roll and swished a trey, pushing the margin up to four.
Buckley said that basket came after Stovall asked to run a different play than what was called.
"The thing I like about him is, and Billy Lynch use to do this, was I would call a set, and Peyton called me off and said he wanted to run something else," Buckley said.
"I would say, 'OK, go make it happen,' and he did. I think that's the kind of relationship you have to have with your point guard."
The Cardinals worked their advantage up to 51-43 on two Anthony Kent's two free throws and Stovall's assist to Terrance Chapman, before two Boyd three-pointers made it 53-49.
That's when Stovall struck again, this time with just 46 seconds left. The Cards then hit 5 of 6 free throws to finish it.
"Because there's so little time left, that became a big shot," said Wright State coach Paul Biancardi, whose team fell to 3-2. "Good players make big shots, and he's a good player."
Both teams labored through the first half shooting-wise. The Cardinals made 12 of 31 from the field, while the Raiders were 8 for 24 after 2-12 start. Wright State also committed 13 turnovers in the first half.
The Raiders finished with just 37-percent shooting and 19 miscues.
"We were in it the whole time; we had a chance to win," Biancardi said. "That's all you can ask for on the road. I think we hurt ourselves with turnovers, but let's give Ball State credit. They helped cause some turnovers."
"The reason we won was our defense," Chapman said, "because the ball wasn't falling in for us."
Chapman would know, because the senior forward managed 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting, but grabbed eight rebounds and had two steals.
The Cardinals shot 21 of 52 from the field, but they were 13 of 16 at the free throw line -- all in the second half.
Stovall made all three of his second-half shots and was 8 of 10 from the field. His driving, fall-away one-hander in the final seconds gave BSU a 27-19 halftime advantage.
By making 4 of 6 from three-point range, the sophomore is now 11 of 16 on the season. He is averaging 19 points per game.
Wright State point guard DeShaun Wood scored 20 points, but Zack Williams, the team's top low-post threat put up just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting.
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