With 59 seconds remaining in the first half, Ball State men’s basketball trailed Central Michigan 41-29. The Cardinals were coming off two straight losses, and after their defeat to Toledo last Saturday, players and head coach Michael Lewis didn’t like the level of fight the team was showing.

But in this case, the energy Lewis wanted to see appeared as the black and red fought their way back to win the game 82-80, which snapped the losing streak.

“When you get knocked down, you just gotta get right back up, and you have to continue to get to the next fight,” Lewis said. “...We had a good shoot round today, and it carried over to a difficult game and you have to find a way to win, and they did.”

The Cardinals’ road-match with the Chippewas started with both teams swinging early. In the first half alone, there were 11 lead changes.

In their previous loss to the Rockets, the Cardinals shot above 50 percent, and the solid shooting numbers continued in this game. In the first half, Ball State shot 18-for-35 (51.4 percent) and finished the game 27-for-50 (54.0 percent). In the win, the Cardinals finished with all six scorers in the double figures as well, being led by redshirt senior forward Mickey Pearson with 16 points.

“When the ball moves, we can attack teams in some different ways,” Lewis said. “Obviously, some guys stepped up and made some big shots… When you're [getting in] a rhythm, things open up for you.”

But despite a positive offensive start in the opening half, Central Michigan led at halftime 41-33. This was in part that the Cardinals had nine turnovers during that time which allowed the Chippewas to score nine points.

Coming into the second half, Ball State’s energy changed. At the 11:47 mark, the Cardinals trailed 56-49 when a small shoving match between the two teams occurred. Following the incident, the black and red went on a 13-2 run to take the lead.

“We had a bunch of fifth-year and sixth-year guys on the floor in the game,” graduate student guard Ethan Brittain-Watts said. “We felt confident that we were an older group. We stayed poised in those situations.”

But the Chippewas regained momentum late in the half and made a run to tie the game. After some back-and-forth scoring, graduate student guard Jeremiah Hernandez attempted a 3-pointer with five seconds on the clock.

The ball bounced off the rim, but he was fouled on the shot, allowing him to shoot three free throws. To him, his mindset was simple.

“Do what you've been doing your whole life,” Hernandez said. “Knock down some free throws.”

After sinking all three, Ball State found the win column and evened up their non-conference (9-9) and Mid-American Conference record (2-2).

Hernandez finished the game with 15 points, Brittain-Watts had 13 and senior center Payton Sparks added 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

“You get down 13 [points], we hadn't shown the willingness to really fight and compete in that situation,” Lewis said. “So to be able to do that tonight against a team that I think is good, we're going to win games in this league.”

The Cardinals will next head to Northern Illinois for a matchup with the Huskies Saturday, Jan. 25. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m.

Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.

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