The Ball State University men's basketball team was simply in awe during the first half of Saturday's game against Kent State University at Worthen Arena.
As a team revolved around defensive intensity and effort, the Cardinals just couldn't catch a break - and the Golden Flashes seemingly couldn't miss.
Despite a spirited comeback attempt in the second half, a 19-0 first half run by Kent State and another deflated performance both offensively and defensively in the paint led to Ball State's 63-56 loss to the Golden Flashes in front of 3,506 people.
"[The first half] was frustrating to all of us players and coaches," coach Billy Taylor said. "I think there was a shock that we did such a poor job defensively in the first half and allowed Kent to shoot such a high percentage from the field."
Kent State (12-11, 5-4 Mid-American Conference) shot 17-for-27 (63 percent) in the first half, including a 20-2 advantage in the paint during that same span of time - three days after Miami University outscored Ball State 40-10 in the key in the Cardinals' 59-41 loss to the RedHawks on Feb. 4.
"[Points in the paint were] probably the difference in the game," first-year Kent State coach Geno Ford said. "For us, it's big because we're a team that has got a lot of good guards, but we have not shot 3-pointers real well on the year - we're a pretty average 3-point shooting team, so we need to get it inside."
Down by as many as 19 points at 45-26 with 17:41 remaining in the second half, the Cardinals began to make their own run.
Ball State built a 16-1 scoring spree over the next six minutes to cut the Kent State lead to four points with 11:39 remaining, and again cut the lead to four points with 7:53 remaining. They wouldn't come any closer the rest of the game.
The Cardinals (10-11, 5-4 MAC) shot 15-of-20 (75 percent) in the second half after shooting 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) in the first half.
"We can't put ourselves in a hole," senior guard/forward Rob Giles said. "We don't want to get in that situation where we have to fight back, it should be coming out the way that we did in the second half."
Two seniors - Giles and senior guard Brandon Lampley - recorded career-high scoring totals against Kent State. Lampley had a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Giles had 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
For the Golden Flashes, junior guard Chris Singletary had a team-high 19 points and seven rebounds. Two other teammates reached double-digits, as senior forward Julian Sullinger had 13 points and three assists and junior guard Tyree Evans added 11 points.
The 2007-2008 MAC Player of the Year, senior guard Al Fisher, finished with two points and three assists on 1-of-4 shooting. Fisher - the Golden Flashes' leading scorer - played 22 minutes and was limited due to early foul trouble and an illness, Ford said.
Even with the loss, Ball State remains one game ahead of Western Michigan University in the MAC West Division standings after the Broncos' 87-63 loss to the University of Akron on Sunday.
The Cardinals next play on Wednesday as they travel to Akron for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Zips (15-8, 6-3 MAC).
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