The Ball State men's basketball team returned to the friendly confines of Worthen Arena for a Friday night showdown with Eastern Michigan on CBS Sports Network.

Payton Sparks and Jarron Coleman each produced double-doubles, as the Cardinals defeated the Eagles, 91-90, in front of the fourth largest crowd (6,068) since 2009.
 
The Cardinals were trailing by three points, 87-84, with 1:13 left in overtime. Demarius Jacobs picked Emani Bates' pocket and recorded the easy fastbreak layup to pull Ball State within one, 87-86. The BSU defense picked up its intensity and forced a contested shot to which Sparks brought down the defensive board.
 
After a timeout by Ball State, Sparks made a layup to give the Cardinals an 88-87 lead with just 15 seconds left on the clock. Sparks came up huge on the defensive end on as he blocked a layup to keep the Eagles from retaking the lead. Mickey Pearson Jr. brought down the defensive rebound and was fouled. Pearson made both free throws to put the Cardinals up three, 90-87. BSU was stout on the defensive end once again as it forced another tightly contested shot. Sparks brought down the rebound and was sent to the free-throw line. He made the first free throw to put Ball State up by four, 91-87. The Cardinals claimed a 91-90 victory after EMU's Tyson Acuff made a last-second 3-pointer.
 
Ball State improved to 16-7 overall, which is the best start since the 1999-2000 season. BSU is now 7-3 in Mid-American Conference play, while EMU fell to 6-17 overall and 3-7 in league action.
 
"Awesome atmosphere," said Head Coach Michael Lewis. "It was a great college basketball game. We withstood a really good individual performance. Unbelievable atmosphere to play a nationally televised game, it was great for the fans. I thought our execution in the second half was special, especially late. We were able to exploit some things that helped up get a win. I thought DJ's (Demarius Jacobs) steal down the stretch was huge. It got us back within one. Emoni is a good player, that's why there were NBA scouts here tonight. I thought our guys kept their fight and stayed into it. They got a stop to get it into overtime, and then really executed in overtime. Very proud of these guys. The crowd was unbelievable, their energy was great. The students were great."
 
Sparks led the team with 22 points and 15 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. He became the first BSU player to record a double-double with 20 or more points and 15 or more rebounds since Tahjai Teague in January of 2020. Sparks added four assists, a game-high three blocks, and added a steal. Coleman tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. It is the first time this season that the Cardinals had two players produce double-doubles in the same game. Coleman collected five assists, with one block.
 
Jaylin Sellers recorded 17 points, two rebounds, one assist, and one block. Jacobs tallied a game-high eight assists to go along with 16 points, two rebounds, one block, and one steal. Pearson finished with 13 points, six in overtime to pace the Cardinals, and added six boards.
 
Coleman opened the game on fire from behind the arc as he made three 3-pointers to score Ball State's first nine points. Ball State started the contest with a 12-4 run that ended with 16:28 left in the first half. BSU outscored EMU 11-9 over the next 3:17 to take 23-13 lead with 13:11 remaining in the opening stanza.

EMU answered with a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to three, 26-23, with 6:37 left in the half. Eastern Michigan continued to gain momentum as the Eagles outscored the Cardinals 17-11 to end the first stanza. EMU led BSU 40-37 at the break.
 
After Bates knocked down a 3-pointer to start the second half, the Cardinals went on a 10-0 run and regained the lead, 47-43, with 16:46 left in regulation. During the BSU run, Sparks accounted for seven of the team's 10 points.
 
Ball State outscored Eastern Michigan, 10-8, over the next 3:51 of action and extended its lead to 57-51 with 12:55 left in the second half. Bates outscored BSU 7-1 to tie the game at 58-58 with 11:29 to play.
 
The final 9:55 of regulation was a back-and-forth battle that saw 10 lead changes and two ties. The two squads needed an overtime period to decide the winner as the score was tied 78-78.
 
EMU opened overtime with a 9-6 run and took an 87-84 lead with 1:44 left to play.
 
Bates finished with a game-high 35 points with five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. Acuff went of 18 points, two assists, and one rebound. Noah Farrakhan recorded 16 points with two assists and a steal. Farrakhan, Kevin-David Rice, and Orlando Lovejoy tied for a team-best six rebounds.
 
Ball State returns to the road for a matchup against Central Michigan on Tuesday, Feb. 7. Tip is slated for 7 p.m.