KALAMAZOO, Mich. - A deflated Ball State University men's basketball team went into halftime of Wednesday night's game at Western Michigan University down 38-24, outnumbered in just about every statistical category to the Broncos.
The Cardinals then came out strong in the second half, outscoring the Broncos 47-33 and forcing the team's first overtime contest of the season but lost momentum in the extra period, losing 84-82 and forcing yet another tie atop the Mid-American Conference West Division standings with Western Michigan heading into both teams' final regular season game on Sunday.
"I walk in here today very proud of how our guys competed on the floor today," coach Billy Taylor said. "I think [Western Michigan] knew what was at stake, like we did, and they came out and got off to a fast start."
In the first half, Ball State (13-15, 7-8 MAC) had problems defending Western Michigan senior guard Shawntes Gary. Gary had 21 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, including 4-of-4 from 3-point land.
"I might not have hit that many [3s] since I've been here," Gary said. "After a while, I just started feeling it and I got some open looks and I was just knocking them down today."
As a team in the first half, the Broncos (10-19, 7-8 MAC) outshot Ball State 14-for-27 (.519) to 9-for-29 (.310) from the field, including 6-for-12 to 2-for-7 from 3-point range. Western Michigan also outrebounded Ball State 22-11, had five blocks to the Cardinals zero and outscored Ball State 13-0 on the fast break.
Then came the Cardinals' turn.
Down 13 to begin the second half, Ball State began to wear down the Western Michigan defense by feeding freshman center Jarrod Jones in the post and with a seriesof tough layups from several contributors.
Senior guard Brandon Lampley stole the ball with 8:40 remaining in the second half, passed to senior guard Laron Frazier who found Jones wide open for a fast break dunk to cut the Broncos lead to 57-54. A couple plays later, a jumper from freshman forward Mo Hubbard tied the game at 61 with 4:57 remaining.
The Cardinals went on to lead by as many as six points with 53 seconds remaining in the half after two free throws from Hubbard, but a 3-pointer from Broncos forward Derek Drews cut the Ball State lead to three.
After a missed free throw on the front end of a 1-and-1 by senior guard Rob Giles, Western Michigan senior guard David Kool hit a layup to cut Ball State's lead to 70-69 with 32 seconds remaining.
Ball State then seemed poised to win the game with its best free throw shooter, Lampley, at the line for two shots with seven seconds remaining. Lampley hit his second shot, which set up Kool for a jumper from just inside the free-throw line to tie the game and force Ball State's first overtime game this season.
"We knew we wanted the ball in David's hands after they missed the first free throw," Hawkins said. "In the last few seconds of the clock, David's the guy you want taking that shot, no question."
Kool - the Broncos' leading scorer this season and No. 2 in the MAC in points per game - continued with his hot hand in overtime. He had 15 of his 22 points in the game in the final 5:54 of both the second half and the overtime period.
Ball State couldn't keep the momentum in its favor for the final five-minute period, and two free throws from Kool with eight seconds remaining iced the game for the Broncos to seal the victory for the home team.
"We just couldn't pull it through in the end," Lampley said.
Jones led the way for Ball State with a team-high 20 points and a team-high tying seven rebounds. Four other Cardinals reached double-digit scoring totals. Lampley added 19, Hubbard scored 14 and senior guard/forward Rob Giles and Frazier added 11 apiece.
Ball State also turned the tides on the boards, outrebounding Western Michigan 38-36, including 14-11 on the offensive glass.
Gary scored a game-high 27 points, and Kool added 22 points for the Broncos, who must defeat Central Michigan University at home on Sunday and have a Ball State loss against Eastern Michigan University on the same day to steal the MAC West title from Ball State.
The Cardinals' game against the Eagles - senior day - begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Worthen Arena.
"It's a big game," Lampley said. "We just want to protect our home court like we've been doing and pull it out at home. We're going to play like we've been playing and just try to take care of business - not doing anything different."
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