Trailing by three with two seconds to go in the second half of Saturday's game against host Tennessee Tech University, Ball State University freshman guard Jauwan Scaife hit a game-tying 3 to send the game into overtime.
But missed shots — both from the field and at the free throw line — and a driving Tennessee Tech attack proved costly in the overtime period for Ball State, as the Cardinals fell on the road to the Golden Eagles 86-81 in the non-conference action at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn.
"Our identity is our defense and we didn't defend today how we normally do," coach Billy Taylor said. "Our guys played hard, played competitive and really battled today but we weren't able to contain dribble penetration the way we teach and we allowed too many easy, open shots."
Ball State (3-4) was led again by sophomore center Jarrod Jones, who had a double-double with a game-high-tying 18 points and a game-best 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Three other Cardinals reached double-digit point totals, as Scaife and sophomore guard Randy Davis each scored 13 points and junior forward Malik Perry added 10 points.
Ball State led Tennessee Tech (4-6) 33-30 at the end of the first half. The Cardinals led 27-22 after a layup from Jones with 4:26 remaining in the first period before the Golden Eagles slowly crawled back within three going into the locker room.
A jumper from Scaife and a layup by Perry quickly gave Ball State a 37-30 lead coming out of the gates in the second half, but that's when Tennessee Tech caught fire. The Golden Eagles went on a 20-6 in the next six minutes run to lead by seven, 50-43, with 12:41 remaining in regulation.
Ball State slowly chipped away at the Tennessee Tech lead the rest of the second half, and the Golden Eagles led 72-69 when senior forward Terrence Watson grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed Tennessee Tech free throw with 19 seconds remaining.
Davis missed a 3 with time winding down, but the offensive rebound was grabbed by Scaife, and the freshman stepped back for a game-tying 3-pointer to send the game to overtime at 72-72.
"Jauwan made a huge shot for us at the end of regulation," Taylor said. "I am really proud of our guys for their execution down the stretch as we didn't panic. We initially missed the first shot and on the rebound Jauwan had the presence of mind to get back and make a big-time shot. We work a lot on situations and I was really proud of our guys being able to execute in that situation, knowing the time and score to get the right shot."
Jones opened the scoring in the extra period with a dunk, but it would be the only time the Cardinals would lead the rest of the way.
Tech's Kevin Murphy made a jump shot with three minutes to go to tie the game at 74, and then the Golden Eagles' Zach Bailey made a 3 pointer off a missed Scaife 3 with 2:11 remaining to give Tech a 77-74 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Davis then missed two free throws, and the Golden Eagles capitalized by making two Bailey free throws of their own.
Freshman guard John Green hit a 3 with 1:20 remaining in the game to bring Ball State within two, 79-77, but Tech's Jud Dillard hit a layup off the heels of two offensive rebounds, and free throws by Tech would ice the game from that point.
Both teams were successful from the field in the game, as the Cardinals hit 27-of-53 (.509) of its field goals and the Golden Eagles converted 33-of-62 (.532) of its shots.
But Ball State had 18 turnovers to just 14 assists and allowed 11 Tennessee Tech offensive rebounds, helping Tech score eight second-chance points.
The Golden Eagles had four players in double-digits on the scoreboard. Murphy tied Jones in game-high honors with 18 points, while Dillard had 15 points, and Elijah Muhammad and Frank Davis added 13 points.
The Cardinals have a week off before its biggest challenge of the season. Ball State travels to Indianapolis on Dec. 19 to play No. 5 Purdue in the John R. Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Last season, then-No. 14 Purdue held Ball State to just 26.4 percent shooting from the field to defeat the Cardinals 68-39 at Worthen Arena.
For full coverage of the Ball State men's basketball team over Finals Week and Christmas Break, check back with bsudailynews.com.
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
