CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The matchup said No. 1 seed versus No. 8, but anyone who has followed these programs in recent years had to expect this one would be tight.
Ball State pushed MAC regular season champion Toledo to the brink in Thursday's MAC Tournament opener. The Cardinals never led in regulation, went up by as many as five in overtime, and got a hand on a last-second tip-in attempt that would have forced another extra period.
But when the final horn sounded at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Toledo was moving on with a 91-89 victory.
Jarron Coleman scored a career-high 33 points, the most for BSU (10-13) in a MAC Tournament game in 15 years, and sent the game to overtime with a buzzer-beating layup.