Jesse Berry hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points Saturday to lead Ball State past Northern Illinois 62-51 in a regular-season finale.
Jarrod Jones and Jauwan Scaife added 11 points apiece for the Cardinals (15-14, 6-10 Mid-American), who used two huge second-half runs to win. Matt Kamieniecki had nine rebounds, and Tyrae Robinson added six assists.
Freshman Abdel Nader led the Huskies (4-25, 3-13) with 16 points and six rebounds.
Ball State earned the ninth seed in the conference tournament and will open Monday night at No. 8 Western Michigan. The Huskies got the last seed and will play at No. 5 Eastern Michigan, also on Monday.
Northern Illinois led 39-27 before the Cardinals ripped off a 14-0 run to take a 41-39 edge with 10:13 left. After the Huskies regained a 47-46 advantage, Ball State reeled off 16 in a row for a 62-47 lead with 3:02 left.
NIU fell to 0-14 on the road.
