MUNCIE IN -- Theron Smith soared to 20 points and 17 rebounds as No. 16 Ball State flew past Elon 106-65 Friday night in first-round action of the First Merchants Classic.

The Phoenix (2-4) used seven-straight points from David Hall to knot the score at 25-25 with 4:23 to play in the first half. The host Cardinals (3-1) responded with a 19-4 spurt to take a commanding 44-29 halftime advantage.

Ball State went on to overwhelm Elon 62-36 in the second stanza on the strength of 70.4-percent field goal accuracy. The Cardinals entered the contest coming off of a runner-up finish at last week's EA Sports Maui Classic, in which they defeated then-No. 3 Kansas and then-No. 4 UCLA before falling to No. 1 Duke.

In addition to Smith, Ball State received key performances from Chris Williams (19 points), Patrick Jackson (17 points, five assists) and Rob Robbins (17 points).

The Phoenix efforts were led by Hall's career-high 23 points on 9-for-15 marksmanship from the floor, including 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. He also hauled in six rebounds as did teammates Quinton McCleod and Jackson Atoyebi. Elon's Gary Marsh scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds.

The Cardinals finished with advantages in field goal percentage (53.1-40.6), rebounding (39-35), assists (19-10), turnovers (10-21), blocked shots (6-2) and steals (11-3).

Ball State advances to Saturday's 7 p.m. championship game against Austin Peay while Elon plays Binghamton in the 5 p.m. consolation contest. Austin Peay rallied past Binghamton 54-51 in Friday night's opening game.

Game Box Score

--ELON--