CMU men's basketball loses heartbreaker to Ball State
Central Michigan University sophomore guard Cayden Vasko goes for 2 in McGuirk Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 21 2025. (CM Life | Jasmine Brookins)
With 38 seconds remaining in the game, Central Michigan men's basketball trailed Ball State by two as guard Anthony Pritchard ripped the ball out of the hands of Jeremiah Hernandez. This gave the Chippewas one last chance to tie or take the lead.
The ball was passed to guard Jakobi Heady who let the shot clock tick away before driving to the hoop and hitting a layup to tie the game at 79 each with only 19 seconds remaining.
With four seconds to play, a foul was called on Heady, sending Hernandez to the line for three shots, and with only four seconds to play he knocked down all three, giving the Cardinals the 82-79 lead.
Ball State intentionally fouled Pritchard to ensure CMU would not have a final shot at the game and Central Michigan lost 82-80.
The loss sets the squad from Mount Pleasant back to 8-10 on the season and 2-4 in Mid-American Conference play.
The game started with the Chippewas defense overwhelming the Ball State offense, forcing the Cardinals to put up bad shots at the end of the shot clock, resulting in 2 back-to-back blocked attempts early in the contest.
The offense struggled to capitalize off the defense early missing two consecutive threes, but the CMU guards slowly started to heat up on the interior with 12 of the first 16 points coming on layups. Central Michigan led 16-13 with 11:24 remaining in the first half.
The Chippewas offense found its rhythm halfway through the first half, stringing together a 16-8 run that allowed it to lead the Cardinals 32-21 with 3:44 left to play in the first half.
The Ball State offense clawed its way back into the game, cutting the lead to six with 1:55 to play before halftime, but a pair of threes from guard Damarion Bonds helped Central Michigan find some much-needed success from beyond the arc, allowing CMU to lead at halftime 41-33.
The Cardinals let the ball fly from three to start the half drilling consecutive threes, but the Central Michigan offense refused to slow down as it maintained a 54-45 lead with 13 minutes to play in the game.
The Cardinals offense began to click halfway through the second half putting together a quick 13-2 run to take its first lead since the first half as it surpassed CMU 58-56 with Central Michigan struggling with fouls.
Ball State refused to let up offensively taking a 68-59 lead with 5:22 left to play. The nine-point lead was the largest of the night for the team from Indiana.
In the final five minutes, the Chippewas offense got hot as it clawed back into the game, trailing by two with 47 seconds to play.
Heady scored with 19 seconds remaining, but a foul immediately after gave the Cardinals three shots at the charity stripe with only four seconds in the game.
After making all three shots, Ball State intentionally fouled Pritchard to ensure that CMU would not have a chance for a potentially game-tying shot and the Cardinals walked out of McGuirk Arena with an 82-80 victory.
Despite the loss the Central Michigan defense continued to show out, forcing 19 turnovers including 12 steals and 4 blocks.
Despite an absence from forward Ugnius Jarusevicius, the stand-in big man for the Chippewas, the dominance under the rim continued as the team from Mount Pleasant outscored its opponents 46-32 in the paint while also winning the rebound battle 33-32.
The struggle for CMU came from the three-point line with the team only converting on four of its 14 shots in the first half, going 7-19 on the game.
Leading the scoring for Central Michigan was forward Quentin Heady. The sophomore transfer totaled a season-high 17 points on 8-12 shooting from the field, three steals and four rebounds.
The Chippewas have a chance to bounce back at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 as it plays host to rival Western Michigan in its traditional Toilet Paper Toss game.
