Wednesday's MAC Men's Basketball Results

MUNCIE, Ind. - Senior forward Jarrod Jones (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) recorded his fourth double-double of the season to lead the Ball State men's basketball team to a 70-55 victory over Florida A&M Wednesday evening at Worthen Arena.

"This was a tough ball game for us," head coach Billy Taylor said. "Florida A&M is very competitive and battles all game long, so we knew we were going to have to push and wear them down over the course of 40 minutes. I was pleased with the fact that while we didn't play our best basketball, we rebounded strongly and scored well in the paint tonight."

Jones tied for team-high honors with 15 points, while leading all players with 11 rebounds for the 25th double-double of his career. Senior guard Randy Davis (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) also chipped in 15 points for the Cardinals who improved to 8-4 on the year, while sophomore forward Chris Bond (Gary, Ind./Bowman Academy) tallied 14 points. Davis hit 3-of-3 three-pointers and 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the victory while Bond was 7-of-10 from the field.

The Rattlers (2-13) were led in scoring by Amin Stevens' game-high 21 points. Reggie Lewis also posted double-figures for FAMU with 13.

The Cardinals shot 46.3 percent for the game, helped out by a 60.9 effort in the second half. BSU, which entered halftime with a 30-29 lead after a buzzer-beating three by Davis, outscored the Rattlers 40-26 in the second stanza. Ball State limited FAMU to a 34.8 rate of success thanks in part to a season-high eight team blocks.

The Cardinals opened an early 9-4 lead thanks for seven straight points as Jones scored on back-to-back baskets. Florida A&M kept things tight in the first half as it scored six straight points to tie the game at 19-19.

The teams traded baskets back-and-forth with the Rattlers hitting a three-pointer to take a 29-27 lead with eight seconds left in the half. Davis came down the court and nailed his third three-pointer of the half at the buzzer to send the Cardinals to the locker room with a 30-29 lead.

Ball State connected on 35.5 percent (11-of-31) from the field and just 33.3 percent (3-of-12) from long range. Davis hit all three of the Cardinals' long range shots as he led the team with nine first half points while Bond added eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.

Florida A&M connected on 36.4 percent (12-of-33) from the field and 37.5 percent (3-of-8) from long range. The Rattlers out-rebounded the Cardinals 24-19 in the first half while also dishing out 10 assists. Reggie Lewis led FAMU with nine points while Amin Stevens chipped in seven points.

Florida A&M came out of the halftime break and posted a modest 6-1 run to take a 35-31 lead. The Cardinals responded as they ran off 14 unanswered points to take a 51-41 lead with 8:54 left and force FAMU into a timeout. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Koch (Winchester, Ind./Wright State) scored eight points in the run, including a pair of three-pointers to ignite the Cardinals' offense.

The Rattlers answered back with consecutive three-pointers before Ball State closed the game on a 19-8 run to take home the 15-point victory. Davis and Jones led the charge down the stretch with six points apiece while Bond added four points, including a thunderous dunk.

Ball State finished the game with a 40-37 edge on the glass as eight different Cardinals posted multiple rebounds, including five from Koch and four from Pierre Sneed (Chicago, Ill./Simeon) off the bench. The Cardinals out-scored the Rattlers 36-18 in the paint as Bond, Jones and sophomore Matt Kamieniecki (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) combined for 34 points.

Ball State opens Mid-American Conference play Saturday afternoon as it hosts preseason MAC West Division favorite Western Michigan. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at Worthen Arena and will be broadcast by the Ball State Sports Network (BSSN).

BUFFALO, NY – Six players scored in double-figures as the University at Buffalo men’s basketball team cruised past Buffalo State, 111-59, at Alumni Arena on Wednesday night in a final tune-up before conference play starts on Saturday.

Mitchell Watt tied a career high and led all scorers with 22 points. The senior forward also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. The Bulls dominated the glass as they pulled down 68 rebounds, the sixth-best single-game effort in school history.

Zach Filzen scored 16 points, including four three-pointers. Dave Barnett added 14 points and eight rebounds.

The lopsided victory afforded head coach Reggie Witherspoon the opportunity to give his bench extended minutes and the reserves responded with a combined 50 points.

Auraum Nuiriankh had 12 points and eight rebounds, both career highs. Corey Raley-Ross had a season-high 12 points and added six rebounds and four assists and Titus Robinson had 12 points and five rebounds in only 14 minutes. Cameron Downing had career highs of six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Bulls never trailed in the game as they jumped out to an 18-2 lead and never looked back. The Bulls led 29-16 before mounting an 18-1 scoring run to take a 47-19 advantage. UB led 51-27 at the break.

Buffalo shot 48.1 percent from the field to have their streak of games shooting over 50 percent snapped at three. But the Bulls grabbed 28 offensive rebounds and scored 33 second-chance points.

The 111 points tied for the fourth highest scoring output in school history.

“We got a lot of guys some minutes tonight and I think some of those guys gave a pretty good effort,” Witherspoon said. “I thought our man-to-man defense was pretty good. We haven’t played extended minutes of it and I think tonight we got a chance to do that. We needed to have another game, that’s for sure. This was just our third game in three weeks.”

Buffalo will host Kent State on Saturday night in its Mid-American Conference opener. The game tips off at 7:00 pm at Alumni Arena.