Behind a 6-6 start from beyond the arc for redshirt sophomore guard Tayler Persons, Ball State men's basketball (19-11, 10-7 MAC) defeated the Toledo Rockets (15-14, 8-8) 82-74 Tuesday night to remain tied for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.

Persons scored the Cardinals first 22 points to help jump out to a 22-13 Ball State lead at the 12:37 mark of the first half.

Like he started the first half, Persons scored the last bucket of the half to give Ball State a 41-36 lead at halftime.

To begin the second half, Persons was a part of more scoring, this time feeding a pair of 3-pointers to junior guard Francis Kiapway and senior forward Franko House.  Persons followed by hitting a jumper of his own at the 17:59 mark to extend the lead to 49-38.

Toledo did cut lead down to 62-54 with 8:30 left in the game. Senior guard Ryan Weber responded by throwing down an and-one dunk to extend the lead back to 11 points with 7:54 left to play.

Toledo wouldn't go away.

With 4:47 left to play, the Rockets closed the Ball State lead down to 68-64.

Then House would hit a 3-pointer at the 4:28 mark to bring the Ball State lead back up to 71-64 and the Cardinals did not relinquish the lead.

Persons finished with 31 points, five assists and six rebounds while House scored 17 and had eight rebounds.

Weber added 14 points, Kiapway would add 12 points and redshirt freshman Tahjai Teague recorded a career high four blocks.

Ball State plays its last game of the regular season on Friday in Worthen Arena as it takes on Northern Illinois.

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