BALL STATE-WESTERN MICHIGAN QUOTES

Western Michigan guard Shawntes Gary

(On his three-point shooting) "Coach went to me the second or third possession and I just kept being aggressive. I thought I did a good job of staying out of foul trouble so I was in the game more and could get in the groove. After a while I just started feeling it.

(On Ball State's second half comeback) "Our defensive intensity went way down in the second half. Those guards basically just took over the game. We need to do a better job of keeping that intensity up. I thought we did a good job of staying with it and not giving up and able to force overtime to get the win."

Western Michigan guard Michael Redell

(On the game) "We did a very good job defensively, especially in the first half, making them take tough shots and getting clean rebounds and quick outlets. We've struggled to do that consistently all year. I think tonight in the first half was by far our best defend, rebounding and get out and run. We got ourselves a lot of easy looks early in the shot clock by pushing the ball. It was very fun basketball."

(On the second half comeback) "We've been through a lot this year and give our team credit. We fought back and stay poised and hit big shots."

(On his feeling when Kool tied the game) "Extreme jubilation. It's been a long time coming. We needed it."

Western Michigan guard David Kool

(On his game-tying shot) "It was big for them to miss the first free throw and get it down to two. Just tried to get to the basket. They cut me off pretty good. Just leaned in and threw up that floater I like to shoot. It's a good shot for me during the regular game. It's a shot I've got to make and a shot I hit.

"It seems like it was a long time coming for us. We've been battling all year through so many ups and downs, it was nice to get a break and get the last second shot to go in. You breathe a sigh of relief because you have a chance to win it in overtime. We feel we threw it away in the second half. We let a great team come back on us. It was nice to get the second chance to come back and assert ourself in overtime."

(On maybe seeing Ball State again in the MAC Tournament) "I think both teams would look forward to playing each other again. I think they feel they gave this one away and we feel like we gave one away in Muncie. If we do play again we know it is going to be a battle of two great teams."

(On Shawntes Gary's first half) "He was unconscious in the first half. Good thing because at the end of the game we needed everyone of them. He came out and asserted himself."

Ball State head coach Billy Taylor

(On the game) "I walk in here today very proud of how our guys competed on the floor. Obviously, we built a big hole tonight, but our guys really responded. Came in at halftime and tried to regroup and refocus ourselves. Our goal was to slowly get back into the game. Built a nice lead, but unfortunately missed some free throws and a key turnover down the stretch in regulation that really hurt us. Give credit to David Kool for making a heck of shot to send it to overtime."

(Do you think you gave one away?) "Not at all. On the road there is no such thing as giving a game away. Western's a good team. They made a shot, basically, at the buzzer to send it into overtime. Our kids battled. We had a lead, they made a shot at the buzzer."

(On Shawntes Gary) "Gary made shots early. What we wanted to do was remain consistent with our game plan. We wanted to close out, but left him too much space and he got into a very comfortable rhythm behind the arc."

(On maybe playing WMU again in the MAC Tournament) "At this point, we have to focus on Eastern Michigan. We haven't turned the page to Eastern and that is our next focus. Anything farther down the road is too much to talk about."

Ball State guard Brandon Lampley

(On the game) "It's a pretty tough game. They came out and played with a lot of intensity and real physical in the first half. Second half, I thought we matched them got back in the game and just couldn't pull it through in the game."

Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins

(On the game) "Obviously, it was a heck of a ballgame. A heck of a lot better for the fans than it was for Billy and I to be involved with. Two teams that are defensive-minded had good offensive games. Both teams executed well offensively and had some guys step up and make some plays and get some scoring from some spots they aren't traditionally used to getting scoring from. In the end, it came down to kids making plays. We feel very fortunate to win the game. Just two teams that really, really went after each other hard all night long."

(On Kool's game-tying shot) "We knew we wanted the ball in David's hands. I just wanted to get into overtime. David is better at getting to the rim than pulling up off the dribble. As soon as that happened, we knew all we needed was a two to send the game into overtime and I wanted to make sure David was fully aware of time and score.

"No offense to any of the other kids, but we've seen David, through his time here, earn that shot."

(On Shawntes Gary) "First of all, it makes a world of difference is someone else is scoring other than David. David didn't have a point at halftime and we were up by 14 because we had some balance. They were leaving him open. I had been talking with Shawntes over the last couple of weeks on a small adjustment in his shot and he stepped up and really shot the ball with confidence. I thought it was one of those cases of a senior saying 'If we go down, I'm going to go down swinging.' He was very aggressive offensively and did a nice job defensively."

(On Kool's knack for scoring late in games) "It's nothing you can teach. David is one of those guys who wants the ball in his hands. David has that killer's mentality, which is, if I miss this shot, that's all right. There's going to be another game where I will make it."

(On Ball State's second half comeback) "Their guards got a lot more aggressive in the second half trying to drive the ball into score and hit a lot of floaters. In the first half, we were able to keep the guards in front of us and we switched up our ball screen defense. The way we played ball screen defense in the first half worked for us, but then our guards stopped moving their feet and their guards got extremely aggressive. Once that happened, we couldn't get the momentum stopped. I credit their guards and their guard play more than it was a lack of our defense."

(On Flenard Whitfield) "That is his game, there's no question about that. It's really been coming along. I like our freshmen and Flenard was outstanding tonight. He's got that feel and I think it's something we can continue to work with him on."

(On the play of his seniors) "Our seniors were outstanding. They all had huge contributions. The most obvious was Shawntes. Mike Redell has nine assists and one turnover tonight. He saw the floor so well and he knocked down three threes tonight and did a tremendous job defensively. Derek Drews we called his number a couple of times and each time he delivered with huge threes. Andre Ricks came in and really did a good job defensively."