Late Cardinal run helps Ball State to victory over Chippewas
A pair of beefy, 6-foot-6, 245-pound Ball State forwards named Bo Calhoun and Franko House wore down the Chippewa frontcourt, Saturday.
Central Michigan men’s basketball sophomore forward DaRohn Scott fouled out and sophomore Luke Meyer sat on the bench out of energy as Ball State took control late to earn a 75-63 win.
There were 18 lead changes and 11 tie scores, with the last coming with 4:20 to go with the score tied at 68. Calhoun scored the next seven points of the game to give BSU its largest lead of the night and extinguish CMU’s hopes of avoiding a three-game losing streak.
Head Coach Keno Davis said the turning point was a Calhoun 3-point play with 3:17 to go.
“They got an and-one call inside in the paint that kind of swung the momentum their way,” Davis said. “If you make a shot the next play, that momentum can swing back.”
Calhoun finished with 22 points, including hitting 9-of-9 free throw attempts, and 14 rebounds. House had 15 points and nine rebounds. While Meyer has five inches on the pair in terms of height, the 20 extra pounds each helped the two Cardinals back their way into the paint.
“I know (Meyer’s) disappointed that he didn’t play better,” Davis said. “But I’m not disappointed in him. I know that he’s doing everything that he can and he’s only going to improve as a player because he cares so much.”
The Chippewas drop to 13-12 and 6-6 in the Mid-American Conference while Ball State improves to 16-9 and 7-5 in MAC play. In the first five MAC games this weekend, all five underdogs picked up wins. Seven of the 12 MAC teams are either 7-5 or 6-6 in conference play.
“We get to wake up in the morning and go back to practice,” said senior guard Chris Fowler, who finished with 15 points and six assists.
Saturday was the second-largest home crowd of the season, with 3,351 fans in attendance.
CMU hosts Toledo (16-9, 7-5 in MAC play) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Chippewas haven’t seen the Rockets yet this season, but went 3-0 against UT last season — including a conference-opener comeback road win, a win that helped CMU clinch the MAC West and a win in the MAC Tournament semifinal.
Simmons steps up, Rayson slowed by early injury
Senior guard Rayshawn Simmons had his best scoring night since the season-opener, leading CMU with 22 points.
“I was just trying to get to the rim,” he said. “(I) was confident in my shot and tried to make plays.”
Simmons had to make up for Braylon Rayson, who took a hard foul less than four minutes into the game from Calhoun. CMU’s leading scorer heading into Saturday missed both subsequent free throws and finished with three points.
“Braylon obviously got injured early and never looked himself out there,” Davis said. “We don’t want to use that as an excuse by any means, but when we haven’t had Braylon on the court — whether it’s an injury or whatever it might be — we’re not as good of a team.”
Davis said he hadn’t talked to the trainer yet following the game, beside making sure he was alright to reenter the game. Rayson played 25 minutes, about seven less than normal.
The matchup, two years earlier
On Feb. 19, 2014, it took three overtimes to decide a winner at McGuirk Arena between Ball State and Central Michigan.
Rayson, a freshman at the time, scored 30 points to propel the Chippewas to victory in the battle of the bottom-feeders in the MAC.
“It wasn’t too long ago that our fans were coming out to watch these two teams battling for 11th place,” Davis said. “It’s nice to see both programs have come a long ways to where we can now compete, not just in the league but for championships.”
CMU finished 3-15 in conference play that season while BSU finished 2-16.
