In a game that was close throughout, seniors D'Andre Peyton and Chris Ames made the plays that helped the Cardinals pull out a tight win, coach Ronny Thompson said.
With 15 seconds left in overtime, Peyton came off the bench and hit his second career 3-pointer that put the Cardinals up 72-69.
Peyton's game-winning shot was part of a career-high 22-point game. He also tied a career high with two steals.
Ames also had a career-high four assists, tied a career high with eight rebounds and had a season-high three steals. Playing with a broken jaw and a mask, Ames scored his only points of the afternoon on a dunk after one of his steals.
Thompson said that the steal and subsequent dunk were typical of Ames' style of play.
"Chris had charges that he drew, he had deflections that he drew, he wore down the guards," Thompson said. "I'll take 10 Chrises any day. His numbers are not always going to add up but again, he's our soul."
Like Ames, Peyton has been doing the small things to improve his game and help the team, Thompson said.
"I think he got the message," Thompson said. "I didn't play him as much as he would have wanted to in some of our previous games, and again, I told him it's got nothing to do with the offensive end of the court. You know D'Andre was battling inside in the post, he dove on the floor for loose balls, he'd done some things that he hadn't been doing. And if you do that, I told him you would get rewarded. We need his offensive ability, he can really score, but you've got to play defense also, you can't be a liability defensively."
Peyton said that his hustle has made him a better player. He also said that fans should not expect to see him taking many threes in the future.
"I'll shoot a three when I'm open," Peyton said. "I'm not just going to chuck up a lot of threes. But if I'm open, I'm gonna shoot it. I'm not gonna shoot a lot of threes, that's not really my game."
Thompson said that Peyton and Ames are not typical postmen as they are more of the grind-it-out type of players. He also said that Peyton has a personality that is a little different as well.
"D'Andre is a different bird," Thompson said. "He is not going to let a whole lot faze him, and he put the work in."
Like Peyton, Cardinal fans should not expect to see many three point shots from Ames, Thompson said.
"Chris, he can't shoot to save a lick," Thompson said. "I asked him in practice just the other day. I said 'Chris, if we were in the Atlantic Ocean and you were in a boat, could you hit the water if you threw the ball over?'"
Ames said that it was great to get a win at home for the Ball State fans.
"Being at home I felt like I had as much energy as anybody," Ames said. "I feed off all the other players, I feed off the fans, I feel like if the fans are into it, I'm into it. I feel like I got to come out here and give it all my best because I know the fans want to see everybody on the Ball State team play hard. So I feel like if I play hard then the rest of the team is going to do it. Being at home is one of the greatest feelings in life. Everybody wants to play at home. I feel like we got the greatest fans."
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