Men's basketball loses game, MAC West lead
A 18-0 second-half run was not enough for the CMU men's basketball team Wednesday at Ball State.
The Chippewas lost 69-63 to the Cardinals and are now a game behind BSU in the Mid-American Conference West Division standings.
The teams came into the game each 7-5 in conference, tied for the West Division lead and the final bye spot in the MAC tournament.
The Cardinal defense shut down the Chippewas early, holding them scoreless until 13:48 in the first half.
Ball State led 36-25 at half, outshooting CMU 52.2 percent to 33.3
"Our effort in the first half defensively definitely affected the end result here," said CMU coach Ernie Zeigler.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 15 before the Chippewas came back.
"Ball State came out the second half and knocked us on our heels again right away," Zeigler said. "We called timeout and I just challenged our toughness."
Central went on a 18-0 run and took the lead with 11:16 remaining and led by as many as four.
But Ball State responded with a 11-2 run. CMU never retook the lead and is now second in the MAC West.
"We just had breakdowns," Zeigler said.
CMU was outshot 48.8 percent to 35.9 percent and Ball State scored 24 points from the free-throw line while CMU had nine.
The Chippewas held Ball State to 24.4 percent shooting in the team's 58-38 victory on Jan. 13 in Rose Arena.
Senior guard Jordan Bitzer led them Wednesday with 18 points, while three others had seven points.
Cardinal guard Randy Davis scored a game-high 24 points and guard Juawan Scaife had 18.
Zeigler said the team was unable to contain Davis as well as it would have liked.
"He's playing with a boatload of confidence and obviously they are giving him the green light to make plays," he said.
CMU (12-13, 7-6 MAC) plays Tennessee State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Rose Arena, its last non-conference game of the season.
Check Friday's edition for expanded coverage.
