The score changed five times in the second half and was tied twice as WMU . . .
Western Michigan improved its overall record to 17-12 and is 9-7 in Mid-American Conference play. The 17 wins eclipses the 16-win mark from last season as the Broncos have won two straight and four of the last six games.
Ball State, falling after five straight wins, dropped to 10-6 MAC and 19-10 overall.
Sophomore Reggie Jones led the Broncos on Friday with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. Jones, a native of Marion, Ind., also led the Brown & Gold with seven rebounds and five assists.
Senior guard Thomas Wilder was second on the team with 18 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Wilder shot just 28.5 percent from the field but went 10-of-13 from the free-throw line. He needs just 18 points to become the second player in program history to score 2,000 career points.
Following Jones and Wilder in double figures was the junior duo of Josh Davis and Bryce Moore. Moore continued his stellar shooting going 6-of-9 from the field for 14 points while Davis scored 12 points. Freshman Michael Flowers contributed with a stellar 10 minutes, scoring nine points on 4-of-7 shooting from the free-throw line.
Tahjai Teague had a big night for Ball State, hitting 9 of 10 shots from the field (3 of 4 on threes) while scoring 24 points.
Tayler Persons tallied 16 followed by Trey Moses (15 points, 14 rebounds), and Sean Sellers (11).
Western Michigan outrebounded Ball State, 34-30 and held an 11-8 advantage on the offensive boards. The Broncos shot 51.7 percent from the field compared to Ball State’s 53.6 percent. WMU forced 15 Cardinal turnovers, scoring 14 points off those miscues.
WMU outscored Ball State 37-6 off the bench and had ten fast break points compared to BSU’s four.
It was a back and forth battle in the first half despite Western Michigan never leading through first 20 minutes of play. The Cardinals jumped out to their largest lead of ten at the seven-minute mark of the first half after embarking on a 11-3 run.
WMU countered with an 11-2 run, making three straight field goals to cut the BSU lead to two with two minutes left. Ball State went into the locker room with a 37-34 lead.
The Broncos took their first lead of the game at the 11:35 mark of the second half after a 12-1 run, with four points coming from Jones. Ball State battled back to tie the game with four minutes left after quickly going on a 5-0 run out of a media timeout.
WMU trailed by one with 1:41 left to play, before a quick 5-0 run highlighted by Jones knocking down three free-throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt. His charity tosses gave the Broncos the lead for good as WMU made nine straight free-throws to close out the game.
NEXT:
Both teams are back in action Tuesday. Western Michigan hosts in-state rival Eastern Michigan on Senior Night.
Ball State is at Central Michigan. Both games tip at 7 p.m.
(Courtesy of WMU Athletics)