Cardinals Claim 75-67 Win at Kent State in MAC Opener

KENT, Ohio – The Ball State men’s basketball team played strong defense, controlled the glass and shot north of 50 percent from the field on its way to a 75-67 win over Kent State Saturday afternoon at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

The Cardinals (7-6, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) trailed 58-57 with 7:39 to play before going on an 11-0 run, highlighted by five points from Jeremiah Hernandez, to claim a 68-58 lead at the 3:11 mark. Mickey Pearson Jr. and Ethan Brittain-Watts made free throws in the closing minutes to help Ball State prevail in the MAC opener.

Jermahri Hill and Hernandez scored six and five points, respectively, in the first four minutes of the game to propel the visitors to an 11-2 advantage. Brittain-Watts drained a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the opening period to cap a 10-0 rally and give the Cardinals a 36-31 lead at the break.

Hill led the visitors with 18 points and six assists while adding five rebounds. Pearson Jr. (14 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks), Hernandez (13 points, two assists) and Brittain-Watts (10 points) also scored in double-figures for the Cardinals, who notched their fourth straight win.

Ben Hendriks (eight points), Payton Sparks (six points, 12 rebounds) and Juanse Gorosito (six points, two assists) rounded out the scoring for Ball State. Gorosito hit a triple from the left corner that put the Cardinals up 66-58 with 4:09 to play and force a timeout.

Kent State (9-4, 0-1 MAC) got 20 points from leading scorer VonCameron Davis, but the Golden Flashes were limited to 35.8 percent (24-67) shooting, including only 26.5 percent (9-34) from distance to suffer the loss.

Ball State shot 52.2 percent (24-46) on field goals, 50 percent (9-18) on 3-pointers and 69.2 percent (18-26) at the foul line while winning the rebounding battle 39-26. The Cardinals controlled the glass to the tune of a 28-22 edge in points in the paint.

The Cardinals will look to keep momentum going when they host Miami (OH) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday for the MAC home opener.