TERRE HAUTE — Jarrod Jones was a man on a mission Wednesday on a cold, windy night at Indiana State University's Hulman Center.
Wanting to end Ball State University's three-game losing streak and eight-game road losing streak in the worst way, the sophomore center came out on fire in the men's basketball team's game against the Sycamores last night.
Jones had 10 first-half points — including three rim-bending dunks — to give the Cardinals the cushion on the road they needed to defeat the Sycamores 68-63 in front of 7,144 fans.
"Before the game, we just got together and said we've got to come out hungry tonight," Jones said. "We knew coming off of a three-game losing streak that we had to turn it around and just play a lot more aggressive and patient."
The victory for Ball State (3-3) is the Cardinals' first on the road since Jan. 10, a 46-42 win against Eastern Michigan University last season.
"I knew we would really be able to tell a lot about our team by the way that we came out and fought tonight," Ball State coach Billy Taylor said. "I thought we showed great effort, great pride, great character by really battling here on the road with what I think is a really good basketball team."
Jones started the game off on a bang for Ball State.
A steal from junior forward Malik Perry made its way to sophomore guard Randy Davis, who found Jones for an alley-oop for the game's first points.
"We wanted to throw the first punch," Jones said. "And that was a good way to set the tone for the game."
The Cardinals also found success on the offensive end of the floor for the first time since their season-opening 88-78 win over Valparaiso University — a game in which Ball State shot 57.8 percent from the field.
Against the Sycamores (5-3) Wednesday night, Ball State converted 24-of-47 shots (51.1 percent) from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point land.
"We weren't as deep in the shot clock," Taylor said. "I thought our guys did a better job executing tonight on offense and really cutting to score and setting physical screens."
Though the Cardinals took a comfortable 31-23 lead going into halftime, they had to withstand a strong Indiana State charge in the second half when Jones collected his fourth foul midway through the period.
With Jones on the bench, the Sycamores even took their first and only lead of the game, 59-58, with 3:06 remaining in the second half.
But with more confidence on the offensive end and at the free throw line led by Davis at point guard, Ball State remained poised.
Davis then hit two free throws to give the lead back to the Cardinals with 2:53 remaining in the game, and a block and a rebound on the other end from Perry led to a jumper off the window from sophomore guard Pierre Sneed to give Ball State a 62-59 lead with 2:19 to go. Ball State held strong to earn the win from that point.
"After they took the lead, we just kind of wanted to settle everybody down," said Davis, who scored 11 points and collected a team-high eight rebounds. "Their fans started getting into it, got everybody pumped up on their side, and we just really wanted to take the tempo back down a little bit, settle everybody down and get a good shot."
For the Sycamores, sophomore guard Dwayne Lathan led the way off the bench with 16 points and five rebounds, while senior guard Harry Marshall added 14 points.
Jones scored a game-high-tying 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, while freshman guard Jauwan Scaife collected a career-high-tying 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting — including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Perry and senior forward Terrence Watson added eight points and four rebounds apiece for the Cardinals, who continue their road swing at Tennessee Tech University on Saturday.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
