MUNCIE — Ball State and Eastern Michigan went back and forth for nearly four and a half hours Tuesday night in a Mid-American Conference shootout.

The teams combined for Scheumann Stadium records of 89 points and 1,164 yards. When the dust settled, Eastern Michigan was on top 48-41.

Riley Neal’s 1-yard touchdown run gave Ball State a one-point lead with 1:35 to play, but Eastern Michigan marched 86 yards in the next 63 seconds. An Ian Eriksen touchdown run followed by a two-point conversion put the Eagles back on top.

Ball State (4-6, 1-5 MAC) moved the ball to midfield in the closing seconds, but DaQuan Pace intercepted Neal’s final desperation pass. It was one of five turnovers — four in the second half — that Ball State ultimately could not overcome.

“The second half we had too many mistakes,” Ball State head coach Mike Neu said. “I don’t worry about the fight of this football team. Nobody’s ever going to give up. We gave ourselves a chance at the end of the game with a lead, but it comes down to us making too many mistakes, turning the ball over too many times. We simply have to find a way to win games, to finish games.”

Senior receiver KeVonn Mabon did all he could in the final home game of his career. He scored three first-half touchdowns — two receiving and one rushing — as Ball State built a lead. He finished with a career-high 12 receptions for 149 yards while moving into second place on BSU’s career receptions list.

The Cardinals trailed 5-3 in the final turnover margin, but they were winning that battle early. Ball State cashed in two Eastern Michigan fumbles for touchdowns on its way to building a 21-0 lead. EMU (6-4, 3-3 MAC) stormed back with 19 unanswered points before Mabon’s third touchdown gave the Cardinals a 28-19 lead headed into halftime.

Eastern Michigan then scored the first 21 points of the second half to lead 40-28 early in the fourth quarter before Ball State got things going again. Neal extended a play with his legs and hit senior Cywettnie Brown for a 62-yard touchdown to pull the Cardinals within five.

The Ball State defense then held until Neal’s touchdown run put the Cardinals back on top late. But there was too much time left for Eastern Michigan’s final drive.

“We capitalized on early turnovers, we got a lead, and we played good complementary football in the first quarter,” Neu said. “We did not play good complementary football in the second quarter. Offensively, we could not get anything going. We put our defense in a bind.”

Ball State left critical points on the field that proved costly in the end. Neal lost the ball when diving for the pylon in the first half, and it went out of bounds for a touchback. In the fourth quarter, one drive before Ball State took the lead, Pace picked off a pass in the end zone for EMU.

Neal matched his career high with 393 yards on 30-of-50 passing and also had 65 yards on the ground. Running back James Gilbert, coming off five straight 100-yard rushing games, ran for 54 yards and a touchdown in the first half but then missed the second with an injury.

Eastern Michigan finished with 622 total yards, including 468 through the air, on 109 plays. EMU quarterback Brogan Roback threw 71 passes, completing 37 of them.

Ball State finished with 542 total yards. Brown joined Mabon with more than 100 yards receiving, giving the Cardinals two wideouts over the century mark for the first time since 2013.

Tuesday’s game marked the final home contest in the careers of 23 Ball State seniors.

“I’m proud of that senior class because of the men they are,” Neu said. “Even though I was not directly responsible for bringing them into this program, I feel fortunate to have been around them for the past 10 months. They are disappointed. I can feel that. But what we have is two games left, and all we have is each other. We need to come back and continue to do our very best to finish this season off the right way.”

Ball State will play its final two regular season games on the road. The Cardinals return to action Wednesday, Nov. 17 at Toledo.

For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State football team, please follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateFB and @BSUCoachNeu.