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RICHMOND, Ky. – Junior
Mike Rose netted the game-winning basket with 16.6 seconds remaining as the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team held off Ball State Saturday night in McBrayer Arena, 51-48. This was one of 50 games played this weekend as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters series. EKU, hailing from the Ohio Valley Conference, improves to 14-13 overall while the Cardinals of the Mid-American Conference fall to 5-21.
Rose led three Colonels in double figures with 17 points. Sophomore
Josh Taylor added 13 points on 71.4 percent (5-of-7) shooting. Meanwhile, senior
Darnell Dialls chipped in with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.
For Ball State, Peyton Stovall (22 points) reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this season. Anthony Newell finished with six points and 11 boards.
Eastern Kentucky led the entire first half and built its biggest lead, 21-11, when freshman
Justin Stommes converted his only three-pointer of the evening. The visiting Cardinals held EKU to two points in the final four minutes of the half to close the gap to five points at intermission, 23-18.
Three-pointers from Stovall and Laron Frazier helped Ball State finally even the score at 36-all with 7:53 remaining. From there, the scoreboard showed three more ties and six lead changes down the stretch.
Newell gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 41-39, with 5:42 left. A Taylor three-pointer briefly gave Eastern the lead again, 44-43, but Ball State responded with a Brandon Lampley trifecta to jump right back out in front. Another Taylor basket, this time a reverse lay-in, followed by a Dialls free throw on Eastern's ensuing possession, gave the home squad a one-point edge with 2:20 remaining.
Still trailing by one point inside a minute to play, Stovall converted a back-door lay-up to put Ball State ahead, 48-47. Rose then hit a fade-away jumper with 16.6 seconds left to give Eastern the lead for good, 49-48. Newell missed a jumper with seven ticks left before sophomore
Adam Leonard netted two free throws to finish the scoring.
Ball State outrebounded the Colonels by 17, 37-20, but EKU forced 16 Cardinal turnovers.
With the win, Eastern Kentucky improves to 5-0 all-time against Ball State. This was the first meeting between the two teams since 1979.
The Colonels conclude the regular season next week with a pair of home OVC contests. First up is league leader Austin Peay on Thursday, Feb. 28. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
