MUNCIE, Ind. –Dedric Boyd scored a season-high 15 points while Dusan Mahorcic had a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double in an 82-66 loss to Ball State on Saturday evening.

Boyd scored 11 of his points in the opening 20 minutes and hit 6-of-12 shots overall from the field and half of his six three-point tries. Mahorcic went 7-of-10 from the field to go with a season-high 13 rebounds. Josiah Strong also scored 14 points, a dozen of those in the second half, making 6-of-11 shots from the field and 2-of-5 from long range. Strong also led Illinois State with four assists and tied for the team lead with two steals.

The Redbirds jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead on a pair of Mahorcic lay-ins, before the hosts ran off a 16-3 run to push ahead by double digits five and a half minutes into the contest. The Illinois State first half deficit grew to as many as 16 points, with the Cardinals taking a 14-point, 50-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.

After a Ball State basket stretched the host's lead to 16, the Redbirds ran off seven straight points to cut the gap to single digits, and a 13-3 ISU run in the middle of the second half closed the gap to as few as six with 7:20 to play in the contest. The Redbirds wouldn't get any closer, as the team went cold over the final two and a half minutes, allowing the deficit to balloon to as many as 16 at the final buzzer.

Ball State's Ishmael El-Amin scored a game-high 20 points, including a perfect 4-of-4 from long range, while Brachen Hazen had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.

The Redbirds return home on Tuesday, December 15 to close out the non-conference season with a 2 p.m. tip-off against Chicago State.

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