Ball State senior center Payton Sparks began his college basketball career Nov. 9, 2021. Yesterday, the Winchester, Indiana native finished his final collegiate home game in Worthen Arena.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Sparks said. “...It’s the end of the chapter at home and I’m just glad we got to play in front of the fans.”

Along with Sparks, four other players — redshirt senior forward Mickey Pearson Jr., redshirt senior Ben Hendriks, graduate student guard Ethan Britttain-Watts and graduate student forward Jeremiah Hernandez — were honored before the game against Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent Central Michigan.

“I think you have to [honor them],” Lewis said. “Some of that stuff is not looked at as important as it used to be… When you have an opportunity to honor those guys, you do so.”

But after the contest, Pearson and Sparks could only muster a few words in the post-game presser as their final home game was a 69-67 loss to the Chippewas. To Lewis, it was another instance where the Cardinals couldn’t play a full game as they led by as much as 21 points in the matchup.

“[It’s] our season on repeat,” Lewis said. “The inconsistency of being able to stack two halves. To play that way in the first half and then not to be able to finish it. We held them to 22 points and 32 percent [shooting] and then give up 47 points in the second half and 67 percent shooting in the second half. Our defense is just not good enough to win games at this level.

Ball State’s (4-16, 7-10 MAC) final home game of the 2024-25 season began with the Cardinals catching fire offensively in the first half. At the 9:28 minute-mark, the red and white led 24-7.

The solid shooting performance — Ball State shot 53.3 percent (16-for-30) in the first half — continued into the halftime break as the Cardinals led 39-22 at the halfway point.

Though they led by 17 points going into the second half, things changed halfway through the period. After Ball State led 50-36 after the first 10 minutes of the half, the Chippewas fired back and cut the lead to single digits. Though the Cardinals pushed the lead back to as much as 12 points, Central Michigan (14-16, 7-10 MAC) made another run.

Turnovers, missed shots and a defensive collapse all added to Ball State's list of issues as the Cardinals began to falter. With 46 seconds remaining, Central Michigan took a 67-65 lead. Though the red and white tied it up, another layup by the Chippewas gave them a two-point lead with eight seconds remaining.

Though Ball State had a chance to tie the game on the other end, Pearson’s last-second shot attempt was short as the ball bounced off the front of the rim, ending the game.

“There are too many other things that are important [to this team] other than winning,” Lewis said. “... I’ve been with these guys and the mentality to chip away and do the little things and not get caught up in the emotion of everything … we haven't shown the ability to tackle that.”

Throughout the year, Lewis has questioned his team’s fight. It happened again tonight after the game, and with the Cardinals facing the MAC’s No. 2 team Miami on the road Friday, March 7 — the game will start at 6 p.m. — he wants to see that fight make an appearance.

“I’ve done a poor job of getting my personality into this team,” Lewis said. “I’m an ultra competitor. I try to beat my kids at Candy Land. I think teams are often a reflection of their coach’s personality [and] I haven’t been able to get that into this team. Our minds wander throughout games, practices [and] the season.

“Too many things that don’t matter. They don’t equate to winning and that’s a really disappointing thing.”

Junior Jermahri Hill led the Cardinals with 21 points while Pearson followed with 11.

The Cardinals are now tied for ninth place in the MAC with Central Michigan. According to Ball State Athletics, the Cardinals will need to beat the Redhawks (22-8, 13-4 MAC), Bowling Green (14-16, 8-9 MAC) will need to lose to Western Michigan (11-19, 8-9 MAC) and Central Michigan would have to lose to Northern Illinois (5-25, 1-16).

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

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