Dec. 4, 1999

MUNCIE, Ind. - Ronnie Jones scored a team-best 16 points, but the UWM men's basketball team fell to Ball State in the championship game of the First Merchants Classic, 71-58.

"I think we are a better team than that," said UWM coach Bo Ryan. "But you have to work through that. This experience will help us."

The Panthers fall to 3-2 on the season, while the bigger Ball State squad improved to 4-1.

"We got abused a little bit inside," said Ryan. "I saw elbows and up going over our guys on rebounds."

The Cardinals outrebounded UWM, 50-32, including 19 offensive rebounds.

Jones paced the UWM attack with 16 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Chad Angeli added 15 and Shaun Fountain chipped in with 12 points.

"That Milwaukee squad is very well coached," said Ball State coach Ray McCallum. "They are scrappy and aggressive. I was concerned coming in about their speed and quickness, and they got after us. But we were bigger and taller."

Angeli and Jones were named to the All-Tournament team.

The Panthers are back in action on Monday when they play host to Michigan Tech.