TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State was looking for one last burst to put them over the hump during a whirlwind second half and got nearly enough before falling 68-63 to Ball State in front of 7,144 fans at Hulman Center on Wednesday night.

ISU fell to 5-3 on the season while Ball State improved to 3-3.

Ball State was able to take an eight point advantage at the half and stretch it to as many as 13 in the second. That's when a little bit of magic started to swirl around the building.

"We dug a big hole, but we got back," head coach Kevin McKenna said. "Just don't foul 30 feet away from the basket. Just play solid. We got back in there by playing aggressively and gambling a little bit. After they initially broke the press, all we needed to do was play solid and keep it from getting inside."

Rashad Reed hit a 3-pointer at the 8:45 mark to make it 49-39.

Down 54-44 with just over six minutes to go, Harry Marshall converted a conventional 3-point play to make it 54-47 and then Lathan added to his growing fan base with another highlight reel "alley-oop" dunk after Marshall got a steal in the press to make it 54-49.

The Cardinals grew the lead to 56-49, but Lathan hit a pair of free throws to make it 56-51. After Marshall made another steal, this time in the half court, the Sycamores made another full court run at the basket and Lathan scored again in transition on a lay-up off another beautiful pass from Marshall.

Down 56-53 with under five minutes to go, ISU got the stop they coveted an d a potential game-tying 3-pointer would not fall as Ball state tacked on a pair of free throws at their end for a 58-55 lead.

ISU got another defensive stop and Lathan was fouled in transition. He hit both free throws to make it 58-57 with 3:40 to go and got the boisterous crowd at Hulman Center on their feet.

After a Jake Kelly steal, Lathan continued his second half determination with a driving lay-up to give ISU its first lead of the game, 59-58, with just under three minutes to go.

Ball State would not go away with four consecutive points to build their lead back to 62-59 as the clock ticked under two minutes to go.

ISU came up empty on a pair of trips down the floor, but Harry Marshall ended the dry spell with a pair of free throws to cut the Cardinal advantage down to 62-61 with under a minute to go.

Trailing 64-61 after a final Ball State field goal, Marshall was denied on a drive to basket while the Cardinals added a pair of free throws to take a 66-61 lead with 20 seconds to go.

Lathan posted a dunk with seven seconds left to make it 66-63 and ISU was forced to foul. BSU hit both to make it 68-63, which proved to be the final score.

Lathan used his 14 second half points to score 16 in the contest. He added five rebounds to pace the Sycamores.

Harry Marshall added 14 while tying a season-best with five assists.

Indiana State was out-rebounded in the game by a 35-22 margin, but were able to convert 10-of-11 attempts from the free throw line.

The Sycamores fell down by as many as 13 points in the first half and needed a small run at the end of the period to close the gap. Needing that spurt, they looked to their instant offense to make that happen just as they did later in the second half.

Dwayne Lathan happened to be up to his tricks again. Down 27-19 with a minute and a half left, he made a key defensive stop and converted a perfect "alley-oop" dunk off a pass from Rashad Reed in transition, which made it a six point game. Jake Kelly added a bucket, but the Sycamore defense had trouble stopping the Ball State attack as they were down 31-23 at the half.

"I thought at the start, Ball State dictated the tempo of the game and really pushed us around inside," McKenna said. "They got the ball where they wanted to inside. The few times that we did help, we kind of helped off the wrong guys, and they kicked out for open shots. We just made too many mistakes. We weren't really ready to play, and that's my responsibility. Hopefully our guys can learn from this and move forward."

The Cardinals owned a 19-9 advantage on the boards and hit 48 percent of their shots.

Indiana State returns to action on Sunday, December 13 when they host Oral Roberts at Hulman Center. Tipoff is set for 2:05 p.m. (ET) The game can be heard live on The Crock 92.7 FM as well as online at crock927.com.