One more game.
There could be more pending a win, but at the moment, Ball State has one more game.
“Everyone’s 0-0 right now,” redshirt senior guard Tayler Persons said. “You just have to have it bounce your way a couple times. We’ve had so many close games. I mean, I feel like I have PTSD out there just going to lose it. We just got to push through it. We’ll be OK. I believe in our group.”
Ball State celebrated senior night Friday in which Persons, senior center Trey Moses and senior guard Austin Nehls played their final game in Worthen Arena. The Cardinals fell to Northern Illinois, 64-57. This was the team’s 12th loss of the season by single digits, dropping it to the 11 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 6-12 conference record.
Compared to the last three years in which the Cardinals have won 19, 21 and 21 games, their 2018-19 campaign of 15 victories and a losing record has been different for this senior class.
Moses and Persons especially have left an imprint on Cardinal fans. Mike Rathbun, who graduated from Ball State with a master’s degree in 1980, has been coming to men’s basketball games regularly for the last 10 years. He said this year’s seniors are “as good as any.”
“We’ve watched Trey and Tayler since they started here, so I think we’ll miss them,” Rathbun said. “I think they’re very hard workers. I think it’s something for the younger guys to look up to.”
Moses joined the team as a freshman in 2015, and his on-court performance has spoken for itself. He is an All-MAC defenseman, and he broke the school’s all-time record for games played Friday, appearing in his 130th contest.
Persons’ achievements don’t lack either. After transferring from Northern Kentucky, where he was the Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year, Persons earned All-MAC Second Team honors in his first two seasons with the Cardinals.
Beck Hannaford has been attending Ball State games for more than 44 years. He described Persons as “one of the very best” to ever play for Ball State and said this senior class will be missed.
“I love Trey. I love Tayler,” Hannaford said. “They made a big impact. They’re a classy lot … They’re a class group of young men, and I’m proud of them all.”
Moses said everything he has contributed off the court will leave a bigger impact than what he’s done on the court. Moses is involved in the Best Buddies program, the same program teammate and close friend Zach Hollywood was a part of last year before he died by suicide.
“Everything that Zach and I have been through before and wearing his number on senior night and for the last two years has meant more to me than anything, more than basketball could ever do for me,” Moses said. “It’s all deeper than basketball at the end of the day.”
Persons agreed that the legacy he wants to leave isn’t all about basketball.
“Hopefully kids like to watch me play, and hopefully they try to work hard and get a scholarship,” Persons said. “My time here — everything hasn’t went as planned … The things we’ve been through as a team made me a better man today off the court.”
With how loud Moses’ and Persons’ accomplishments are, Nehls can get lost in the mix as a graduate transfer from Central Connecticut State. Nehls will graduate with a master’s degree from Ball State. While he only spent one year as a Cardinal, head coach James Whitford said it was a pleasure coaching him.
“We’re all going to be asking him for a job 10 years from now because of what he’s accomplished off the court,” Whitford said. “It’s not the same as Tayler and Trey who have this history here. Austin’s an incredibly special kid … In their career, you got to take it all together.”
Friday was an emotional day for the seniors, but they have at least one more game to play. Ball State will clash with Eastern Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Monday at 7 p.m. The Eagles have already beaten the Cardinals twice this season.
Persons said it’s hard to beat a team three times. Moses said the team is ready. Whitford said the seniors’ story isn’t over just yet.
“Their senior year didn’t go the way they wanted it to,” Whitford said. “There’s still a chapter to be written for us. Hopefully we can make one of those special runs.”
Contact Zach Piatt with any comments at zapiatt@bsu.edu or on Twitter @zachpiatt13.
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