Still trailing by 11 points . . .
But led by the freshman backcourt of Jarron Coleman and Luke Bumbalough, Ball State rallied to outscore the Eastern Michigan by 20 points the rest of the way. The Cardinals brought nearly 6,000 fans to their feet with a 64-55 victory in the program’s fifth-annual #MuncieOut game at Worthen Arena.
Ball State (15-12, 8-6 MAC) handed resurgent EMU (15-12, 5-9 MAC) just its second loss in the past seven games. The Cardinals improved to 6-1 at home in conference play and kept themselves in position to compete for a MAC West Division title.
“Eastern is playing really well right now,” Ball State head coach James Whitford said. “We knew coming into this it was going to be a hard game. I thought our guys showed great composure. We didn’t panic when the first half went like it did.”
Coleman finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Bumbalough logged 17 points, four assists and two steals.
Bumbalough connected of 5-of-8 from 3-point range, knocking down four of his five second-half attempts. BSU’s 13 treys as a team were its most in a conference game this season. The Cardinals made 50 percent for the game and knocked down six 3-point attempts in a row during the decisive run.
Eastern Michigan is always tricky to play against with its 2-3 zone, and Saturday was no different. The Eagles slowed the pace down, forced 12 first-half turnovers and took a 33-22 lead into the locker room.
Ball State began to find its offensive footing early in the second half but couldn’t really cut into the lead. Then, down 49-38 with 9:58 to go, Ishmael El-Amin hit a 3-pointer to spark the Cardinals. Bumbalough followed by hitting a couple in a row. Then El-Amin found Coleman for an alley-oop. Almost before you knew it, Ball State was on top.
Eastern Michigan could never regain control. The Eagles made just two field goals in the final 9:38 as the Cardinals overtook them.
“The thing I thought we had tonight was the intensity on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the second half,” Whitford said. “I thought our effort on both the offensive glass and the defensive glass was as big a part of the story as anything.”
Ball State held a 31-21 rebounding advantage for the game and limited Eastern Michigan to only one offensive rebound in the second half.
El-Amin finished with nine points and five assists, while Tahjai Teague had eight points and tied his career-high with six assists. The Cardinals were able to get the ball inside and find open shooters on the perimeter.
(Courtesy of UT Athletics)