Box Score Game box (pdf)
MUNCIE, Indiana – The Wofford men’s basketball team was defeated 66-61 by Ball State on Friday night at Worthen Arena. The Cardinals used a 13-2 run in the second half to take a lead and the Terriers could get no closer than two points in the final four minutes of the game.
Wofford begins the season 1-2, while Ball State is 2-0. The Terriers had three players in double figures, led by Lee Skinner with a career-high 16 points and ten rebounds for the double-double. Spencer Collins added 14 points, and Karl Cochran had ten points. The Cardinals had four players in double figures, led by Majok Majok with 17 points. Majok also led the team with seven rebounds.
“The difference between winning and losing often times is very small,” said head coach Mike Young. “We were in great shape up six points, they hit a three and then we miss a shot that we needed to make. That was a game we were supposed to win and we needed to find a way to close it. We did some things pretty well and we did some things not so well. Shooting 36 percent from the field is problematic. We were up four on the glass at the half and got outrebounded in the second half. We have a lot of work to do, but we will get there.”
The Terriers opened the scoring with a couple of free throws by Lee Skinner and the game was tied at four after four minutes of play. The Cardinals went on a 7-0 run and held a 15-7 advantage with 11:43 left in the first half. The Terriers then went on a 7-0 run that included a three by Spencer Collins to make it a 15-14 game with 8:10 on the clock.
Ball State maintained an 18-14 advantage despite not scoring a field goal for almost six minutes. Then back-to-back three pointers by Karl Cochran and Spencer Collins gave Wofford a 20-19 lead with 3:59 remaining in the first half. In the final two minutes, the Terriers made four-of-five free throw attempts and added a lay-up by Aerris Smith for a 28-26 advantage at the break.
The Cardinals scored to open the second half to tie the game at 28. The Terriers had a 33-32 lead after a shot by Karl Cochran, but Ball State was up 37-35 at 14:15 in the second half. A three pointer by C.J. Neumann with 12:02 on the clock gave Wofford a 41-37 advantage. Wofford was able to take a 45-39 lead after a dunk by Lee Skinner with 9:18 remaining in the half.
Ball State answered with back-to-back three pointers by Michael Ramey to tie the game at 45 with 8:43 on the clock in the second half. The Terriers regained the lead with a shot by Karl Cochran, but Ramey hit another three pointer for a 48-47 advantage with 7:56 remaining. The Cardinals pushed the run to 13-2 and had a 52-47 lead before John Swinton hit two free throws. Jarell Byrd hit a three for Wofford to cut the score to 54-52 with four minutes left in the half. A three by John Swinton with sixty seconds left made it a 59-57 game, but that was as close as the Terriers could get and the Cardinals came away with a 66-61 victory.
Wofford shot 36.0% from the floor while Ball State shot 42.2% overall. The Terriers were 7-of-21 from three, while the Cardinals were 5-of-13 from behind the arc. Wofford was 18-of-24 from the free throw line, while Ball State was 23-of-32 from the line. The Cardinals had a 36 to 31 lead on the glass.
Wofford will continue the five-game road trip on Sunday at Ohio University in the first game of the Nation of Coaches Classic.
