Despite falling behind 6-0 and not scoring a field goal for the first five minutes of the game, the Ball State men's basketball team (7-13) defeated a strong Ohio (13-7) squad 69-57 Sunday afternoon.

 "I thought our guys played with a lot of courage today," said first-year BSU head coach Ronny Thompson. "I've been challenging them all week."

Behind four Cardinals scoring in double figures, Ball State shot 62 percent in the second half and rolled to the win during the final eight minutes.

After trailing bix six early, the Cardinals went on a 9-2 run which gave the team their first lead at 9-8 and never looked back holding the lead for the remainder of the contest.

"Their starting five, I thought were each capable of scoring 20 points," Thompson said "So I thought we just had to man up and play hard today. I thought we got it done defensively."

A major part of that performance was senior Skip Mills who totaled 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting and 7-of-8 from the free throw stripe. Mills also had five rebounds, a season highs in assists (5) and steals (5).

"Skip did an excellent job today being an aggressor but not playing out of control," Thompson said.  "In addition to his offensive effort, he had five rebounds,  five assists and five steals. He took over the game and I was so proud of him."

Also playing well for Ball State was sophomore Anthony Newell. Newell netted a season high 19 points and grabbed six rebounds. He also led the team from the free-throw line shooting 9-of-11.

Also scoring in double-figures for Ball State was Peyton Stovall with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point territory, and Chris Ames with 10 points. Ames was 5-of-6 from the floor and he also grabbed six rebounds.

Micah Rollin tied his career high in rebounds with nine.

The Cardinals defeated the Bobcats in more areas than just scoring. Ball State held the edge in points in the paint (30-26), second-chance points (13-11), fast break points (6-4) and bench points (21-0). Perhaps the biggest advantage for the Cardinals, however, was with rebounding as they out-boarded the Bobcats 38-25.

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