Ball State won its fifth men’s basketball game in a row and its seventh in its last eight games, 77 to 68 over Northern Illinois last night at Worthen Arena.

Trey Moses had 23 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks to grab his ninth double-double of the season, while fellow big man Tahjai Teague nailed 13 points and nine boards.  Game-saving guard Tayler Persons scored 14 points, and Sean Sellers made two three-pointers to tie Jesse Berry for the number-one spot on Ball State’s career three-pointer list with 224 all-time three-point goals.

Ball State is 19-and-9, overall, and 10-and-5 in the MAC West, just a game behind Toledo for the MAC West crown.  Toledo lost last night at Eastern Michigan. League leader Buffalo also lost last night, 84 to 81 at Miami.

Next up, a nationally televised game on ESPN-2 against Western Michigan, Friday night, at 9 p.m. That will be senior night for Ball State seniors Sean Sellers and Francis Kiapway.

This is the last regular-season home game for the Cards.  The top four teams in the league get an automatic bye to the MAC quarterfinals at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Today, the Cards are alone in third place in the conference, and could get the number-two seed with continued wins and one more Toledo loss.  Ball State swept Toledo in the teams’ two games, this season, and has the tie breaker.