A season ends
Three point shots down Tigers in Ball State loss
The three-point shot has revolutionized the game of basketball since the day it was implemented, and it was largely responsible for Ball State’s defeat of the LSU Tigers in the National Invitational Tournament Tuesday night in the PMAC.
Before a season-high crowd of 12,696, the Cardinals (23-11) hit a whopping 14 three-pointers on 26 attempts to quiet the home crowd and end the Tigers (19-15) season, 75-65.
“We knew what we needed to do,” said head coach John Brady. “Guard them from the three-point line, which we didn’t do a good job of.”
Ball State senior guard Patrick Jackson hit 5-of-6 from behind the arc, and junior guard Chris Williams nailed 6 of-11 treys to dash the Tigers hopes. Jackson finished with 19 points and Williams had 25. Junior forward Theron Smith chipped in with 19 points and nine rebounds.
“They were too good for us at times, to be honest,” Brady said. “We didn’t give them wide open looks except for a couple, but for the most part, defensively, we tried to guard like we wanted to. They were still 14-for-26 from the three-point line.”
“They just came out hitting three after three,” said junior guard Torris Bright. “It seemed like we couldn’t stop them, and that’s how they beat us.”
LSU opened the game on a 6-0 run, but Ball State responded quickly with six unanswered points of its own on two three-pointers. The teams exchanged baskets for the rest of the half, with the biggest lead for either being five. At the half, the Cardinals led 37-35, and had hit nine three-pointers. Ball State didn’t hit a two-point field goal until the 4:47 mark in the first half.
The second half was more of the same, with the teams exchanging buckets for more than half of the second period.
Bright came out like a man on a mission, scoring 18 of his game and career-high 25 points in the second half.
“I was really hyped for this game, and it was my career high,” Bright said. “But I’d give this career-high up for one more game any day. It must be my worst career high. It doesn’t feel right.”
However, with the score tied at 59, junior forward Ronald Dupree converted an alley-oop thrown to him by senior forward Jermaine Williams at the seven- minute mark in what would be the Tigers last field goal.
The Cardinals hit three more three point buckets from that point and shot seven-for-nine from the free-throw line down the stretch for the victory in a game that was much closer than the final victory margin of ten.
Brady was thankful for the fans and especially for his players.
“I’m appreciative of our fans for coming to see this team and making them feel good about what they’ve accomplished,” Brady said. “They have accomplished a lot, even in losing tonight. We were a team that doesn’t have a real superstar, but we are a team. Our team tried to defend and rebound as well as any team I’ve ever coached.”
He also said the best is yet to come with the addition of some key players like Shawnson Johnson and junior college forward Jaime Lloreda.
“I think this team has laid a nice foundation and has given our student body and our fans something to look forward to by the way they played,” the fifth-year head coach said. “I think with the players we have returning and the players we have sitting and the players we have recruited, I think is an indication of a lot of good things about to happen to this program.”
Dave Theard