El-Amin racked up 15 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, and Luke Bumbalough scored all 14 of his after the break. Ball State (7-6) outscored Portland 42-27 over the final 20 minutes to pull away in a game that was tied at the half.
It was the end of a long trip for the Cardinals who won a week ago at Georgia Tech before traveling to Hawaii for three games in four days. After falling to No. 22 Washington and to UTEP in a tight one it its first two games in Honolulu, BSU pulled through against Portland to cap its non-conference slate with a winning record.
And as much as the scoring from El-Amin and Bumbalough lifted the Cardinals, head coach James Whitford credited fellow guard Josh Thompson with influencing the outcome.
In a game that tipped at 8:30 a.m. local time, there wasn’t much energy to be found early. But Thompson brought some life to the proceedings, starting defensively. He finished with five points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals, making winning plays across the board.
“I thought the guys really showed a lot of toughness,” Whitford said. “I thought Josh Thompson really was fabulous. He provided a big lift for us off the bench, and he defended his tail off.”
The Cardinals also got a boost from the presence of Kyle Mallers who was questionable after suffering an ankle injury early against UTEP and sitting out the rest of that contest. But the senior forward hasn’t missed a game in his career, and he didn’t miss this one. He gutted out 24 minutes and, while hitting just 1-of-7 shots, did all the little things he normally does to help BSU win games.
Despite a slow start offensively, Ball State was in control for much of the first half until a late lull. The Cardinals went the final five minutes of the half without a point as Portland (8-7) rallied from an 11-point deficit to even things at 19-all at the half.
The Pilots were packing in their defense, making it hard to score inside. The Cardinals were able to find looks from the outside but couldn’t get them to fall. That changed in the second half.
After Ball State fell behind 25-24, El-Amin altered the complexion of the game. He scored the next 11 BSU points, hitting three 3’s in the span of two and a half minutes. Bumbalough then followed with a 3, and all of a sudden the Cardinals were up double digits.
It stayed like that most of the way from there. El-Amin and Bumbalough combined to make 7-for-12 from 3-point range in the second half.
“I thought we had good shots from behind the arc the whole game,” Whitford said. “They were really collapsing when the ball went inside and making it hard to score around the rim.”
The Cardinals eventually won going away despite shooting only 34 percent for the game. They held Portland to 36 percent overall and just 12 percent (2-for-17) from 3-point range. Big man Tahirou Diabate led the Pilots with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Ball State is now off until the new year. The Cardinals will begin MAC play with back-to-back home games, hosting preseason West Division favorite Toledo on Friday, Jan. 3 and defending league champion Buffalo on Tuesday, Jan. 7.