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VALPARAISO 69, BALL STATE 52

 
"I really wasn't that pleased with our effort tonight," head coach Billy Taylor said. "Our effort wasn't where it needed to be to win on the road. Effort shows up in transition defense, transition offense and rebounding and we didn't win any of those areas tonight. I credit Valparaiso for being consistent in their effort to beat us."
              
JONES PACES BSU
Junior forward Jarrod Jones led all scorers with 18 points as he connected on 8-of-15 from the field in the loss. Jones also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, dished out two assists, tallied two steals and posted a blocked shot.
              
The Cardinals and Crusaders battled back-and-forth for the first eight minutes of the half as Ball State owned a 13-11 lead. Freshman forward Chris Bond scored four early points for the Cardinals as BSU forced Valparaiso into seven turnovers.
               
The Crusaders responded with a 13-3 run to take a 24-16 lead as Brandon Wood started to heat up from three-point land. Wood, the Crusaders' leading scorer, poured in 15 first half points to lead Valparaiso to a 37-25 halftime lead. He connected on 5-of-6 from the field, including all four of his three-pointers. 
               
VALPO HOT FROM FIELD
Ball State hit just 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from the field in the opening half and just 1-of-3 from three-point land. The Cardinals were led by Jones who scored 10 first half points as he connected on 5-of-9 from the field and scored six of the Cardinals final eight points of the half. Valparaiso connected on 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field and hit 40 percent (6-of-15) from long range. The Crusaders also handed out eight assists on their 13 field goals in the opening frame.

Ball State came out of the halftime break and scored the first five points of the half. Junior guard Randy Davis started the spurt with a three-pointer off a screen and Jones forced a quick Valpo timeout as he scored in the paint. The Crusaders responded with an 11-2 run to extend the lead back to double figures as Ryan Broekhoff scored five points to key the run.
               
Ball State kept battling and scored eight straight points to narrow the deficit to single figures at 55-47 with 8:02 remaining in the contest. Junior guard Pierre Sneed was the spark off the bench as he scored five points in the run, including converting an old-fashioned three-point play. The run stalled and Valparaiso answered with an 8-1 spurt to extend the lead back to double figures, where it stayed the remainder of the second half.
               
Ball State finished the game shooting 40.4 percent (19-of-47) from the field and was just 3-of-10 (30%) from three-point land. Davis finished with eight points as the Cardinals only had one player (Jones) reach double figures in scoring. Bond chipped in seven points and four rebounds off the bench in the loss. 
               
FOUR CRUSADERS REACH DOUBLE FIGURES
Valparaiso ended the night shooting 52.0 percent (26-of-50) from the field and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from long range. The Crusaders had four different players score in double figures with Wood leading the way with 17 points and seven rebounds. Cory Johnson chipped in 16 points while Howard Little added 11 points in the victory.
               
Ball State returns home to Worthen Arena on New Year's Eve as the Cardinals host North Carolina A&T. Tip-off is set for noon.

Courtesy of Ball State Athletics