It probably wasn't the blowout that some might've predicted.
But the Ball State University men's basketball team took advantage of a hot first-half shooting touch and defeated Manchester College – an NCAA Division III team – 69-55 in front of 3,098 fans Thursday afternoon at Worthen Arena.
The win for Ball State is its third straight as it went 3-0 during its Winter Break homestand.
"Obviously not one of our best performances – give credit to Manchester," Ball State coach Billy Taylor said. "It's nice to be in a position where we can be nit-picky and really dissect wins now. We've won three in a row, but I don't think we've quite played our best. We've got to get that turned around quickly before we get into MAC play."
With the win, the Cardinals also improve to 6-5 as they enter their final non-conference game Jan. 5 at the University of Dayton.
Leading the way for Ball State was sophomore center Jarrod Jones. The reigning co-Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week earned his third straight double-double – and fourth in the past five games – with a game-best 20 points and 10 rebounds.
If it weren't for the Spartans' (7-5) ability to knock down the deep ball in the first half, the game seemingly would've been over by halftime.
Ball State made a blistering 69.2 percent (18-of-26) of its shots from the field in the first half. Manchester made just 10-of-27 (37 percent) of its own first-half shots, but six of those made shots were from 3-point range, and the Cardinals led 42-29 going into halftime.
"The first half we did an excellent job [offensively]," Taylor said. "We scored fairly easily within the flow of our offense. We didn't run a lot of plays – guys just kind of made plays out there, playing pretty unselfish basketball."
Ball State continued its success early in the second half, opening the period on a 7-0 run capped by a layup from junior forward Malik Perry with 15:38 remaining to make the score 53-31.
But from that point, the Spartans' increased attention on the Cardinals' frontcourt mixed with Ball State's inability to knock down a shot on the perimeter gave Manchester a glimmer of hope as the second half wore down.
The Cardinals went the next 7:42 without a bucket and the Spartans cut the Ball State lead to ten at 53-43 with 9:37 remaining in regulation.
"[Manchester] really made it a point to shut down possessions in the paint," said Jones, who scored just seven of his 20 points in the second half. "They just kept competing the whole game and they had the confidence to just come in and follow through with their gameplan. They tried to shut down possessions in the paint and force us to shoot outside shots."
However, Ball State increased its intensity on offense the rest of the game. The Cardinals led by as many as 18 points in the final minutes before two late Manchester baskets produced the final score.
Perry, who missed Monday's game against Maryland Eastern Shore with a right knee contusion, was the only other Ball State player who scored double-digits with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
13 total Cardinals played in the game – 10 of whom scored and/or grabbed at least one rebound. Freshman guard Jauwan Scaife made up for a 4-of-12 shooting performance with eight points and five assists to zero turnovers, while sophomore guard Pierre Sneed added seven points and seven rebounds.
Overall, the Cardinals out-rebounded the Spartans 36-26.
Ball State has now earned three consecutive wins for the first time under Taylor and for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
For continuing coverage of the men's basketball team over Winter Break, check back with bsudailynews.com.
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