For the third time in five games, Ball State University took a team from the Mid-American Conference East Division to overtime.
The first two times it worked out well for the Cardinals, as they scored a pair of important wins. But Saturday against the University of Akron, the reigning MAC Champions, Ball State (12-10, 6-4) couldn't find its overtime magic. The Cardinals lost 75-70 in front of a crowd of 3,062 fans that braved the snow on their way to Worthen Arena.
Coach Billy Taylor said he had confidence in his team as the game stretched into extra time.
"We've been in a lot of close ball games in the past couple weeks," Taylor said. "We certainly had confidence we'd be able to pull it out."
Beating the Zips (17-7, 7-3) would have been a big step for the Cardinals. It would have extended Ball State's winning streak to five games and moved it into the lead in the MAC West Division. But Akron's championship pedigree was too much for the hosts to handle.
"We saw what it was like to compete at championship level," Taylor said. "Hopefully we'll get a chance at them again in the tournament."
After winning the MAC Tournament last season, expectations are higher surrounding the Zips. Coach Keith Dambrot said the target on his team's back is sometimes difficult to handle.
"There are a lot expectations on our guys and sometimes I think that's hard on them," Dambrot said. "We're still not a great team, but we're good enough to beat a lot of people and lose to a lot of people."
At the start of the game, it looked like Akron might run away with it when it quickly opened a 15-9 lead. The Zips extended their advantage to 11 with four minutes left in the first half, but were unable to put Ball State away.
The Cardinals fought back much of the second half, eventually taking the lead. Center Jarrod Jones capped the unlikely comeback with a turnaround jumper to tie the game at 60.
However, the Zips had a chance to win the game in regulation. Point guard Humpty Hitchens missed a deep jump shot with four seconds to play, and forward Chris McKnight was unable to get a tap-in to fall.
The Zips were able to rise to the challenge in overtime. Akron took control with just over a minute to play in the extra period when forward Brett McKnight nailed a 3-pointer. The visitors got a key stop on the other end of the floor when point guard Randy Davis missed an off-balance 3-point attempt and then sealed the game at the free throw line.
Ball State was carried in the first half by Davis, scoring 12 of the team's 26 points. The sophomore went 5-for-6 from the field and grabbed three rebounds.
"I felt good coming out of the locker room," Davis said. "My teammates kept the confidence in me, they said you had some good games before so keep on shooting and that's what I did."
In the second half Ball State made a bigger effort to get the ball inside, scoring 24 points in the paint. Taylor said he was happy to take advantage of the bigger lineup.
"I thought matchup wise, we'd be able to defend a bit better," he said. "We haven't been able to play big a lot, we've had some injuries, it was nice to be able to go with some bigger lineups and play physical."
Jones came alive with the emphasis down low, scoring 12 of his 16 points after the break. Akron countered with a bigger lineup as well, something that Dambrot hadn't intended to do.
"We didn't want to play [small forward] Jimmy Conyers 37 minutes, but I felt like Ball State was playing so big I didn't have a choice," he said. "[Center] Zeke [Marshall] didn't quite have it tonight, but the more we could play Zeke against Jarrod, the better off we were."
A candidate for the MAC Freshman of the Year award, Marshall scored only two points and had one block. Jones, last year's MAC Freshman of the Year, had a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds.
In the end, Akron's depth was able to pull out the win in a physical battle in the paint.
"It was like the Battle of the Bulge," Dambrot said. "They were pounding it in and we were pounding it in and there are bodies flying. It was just a tough ballgame because we're very similar."
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