Jordon Crawford’s game could be described as flashy, maybe even wild, but his style is often wildly effective on the court.
Bowling Green’s senior guard darted through and around Ball State’s pick-and-roll defense all game long, creating shots for himself or throwing acrobatic lobs to senior forward A’uston Calhoun.
Crawford and Calhoun finished with 19 and 17 points, respectively, as the Falcons (8-13, 3-5 MAC) beat the Cardinals (8-12, 2-6 MAC) 70-59 on Saturday in the Stroh Center.
Ball State started the game sluggish, falling behind 7-0 early. The team kept the deficit to single digits for most of the first half before a 6-0 run by Bowling Green in the final 43 seconds spurred a 41-28 lead going into halftime.
The 5-foot 6-inch Crawford fueled the run with four points and one of his game-high eight assists after coming off the bench for the first time all season.
Ball State showed more effort in the second half, getting out in transition and quickly back into the game.
By the 14:49 mark in the second half, the Cardinals pulled within four, 46-42, behind two free throws from forward Matt Kamieniecki.
Bowling Green pushed that lead back to 12, 61-49, with 6:34 remaining, however, and Ball State only got the deficit under 10 points once before the game ended.
Senior guard Jauwan Scaife led the Cardinals with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Junior guard Jesse Berry added 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and Majok Majok scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Saturday’s loss was Ball State’s sixth defeat in the last seven games, while Bowling Green ended a two-game losing streak.
Ball State’s next game is at home against Ohio on Wednesday.
