Ball State Opens With a 76-54 Win

Patrick Jackson made six of eight three-point shots and scored 28 points to lead Ball State past Saint Joseph’s, 76-54, Friday night in a first-round National Invitation Tournament game at Philadelphia.

Ball State (22-11) made 11 of 23 three-point shots. The Cardinals’ next NIT opponent is Louisiana State on Tuesday.

Saint Joseph’s (19-12) used a 19-7 run in the first half to build its biggest lead at 30-21. But Ball State made four consecutive three-point shots, two by Jackson, in a three-minute stretch to cut the deficit to 35-32 at halftime.

Ball State then opened with second half with a 20-7 run and St. Joseph’s never recovered. The Cardinals made 13 of 23 shots in the second half and the Hawks were seven for 33.

Chris Williams had 16 points, and Theron Smith had 14 and 11 rebounds for Ball State. Damian Reid had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Saint Joseph’s.

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Louisiana Tech 83, Vanderbilt 68--Antonio Meeking and Gerrod Henderson had 19 points apiece for the Bulldogs at Ruston, La.

In the second round, Louisiana Tech (22-9) will play Villanova on Monday or Tuesday

Louisiana Tech led, 41-34, at halftime after shooting 61% to 48% for Vanderbilt (17-15). The Commodores made only three shots from the field in the first seven minutes of the second half and had no baskets for a stretch of 4:35.

Matt Freije led Vanderbilt with 23 points.

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Tennessee Tech 68, Dayton 59--Damien Kinloch’s three-point play started a 14-4 run in the final two minutes that lifted the Golden Eagles (26-6) to victory at Dayton, Ohio.

Jason Harrell scored 14 points for Tennessee Tech, which will play Yale in the second round Monday or Tuesday.

Ramod Marshall led Dayton (21-11) with 15 points.

The Richmond-Montana State game at Richmond, Va., was postponed a day because of travel problems stemming from snow in the Midwest.