House sparks Ball St to 4th straight, tops Alabama St 73-48 (Dec 22, 2016)

By AP
Published

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) Franko House scored 15 points and Ball State surged to a double-digit lead in the first half to beat Alabama State, 73-48, Thursday night for their fourth-straight win.

The Cardinals led by just four, 23-19 with three minutes to play in the first half. Trey Moses dunked to spark an 8-1 run to close out the half and send Ball State into intermission with an 11-point lead, 31-20.

The Hornets, idle since a December 14 loss to Tennessee State, rallied to get within seven, 34-27 early in the second half but the Cardinals got back-to-back layups by Tayler Persons to push the lead back to double digits.

Persons finished with 12 points and Ball State shot 26 of 57 (45.6 percent), including 7 of 21 from distance, for the game.

Tony Armstrong scored 12 points and was the lone Alabama State scorer to reach double digits.