MUNCIE, Ind. -- Trey Moses had 23 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, Tahjai Teague was one rebound shy of a double-double and Ball State beat Northern Illinois 77-68 on Tuesday night.

Ball State (19-9, 10-5 Mid-American Conference) got its seventh victory in its past eight to move within a game of West leader Toledo (11-4).

Tayler Persons scored 11 of his 14 points before halftime for Ball State. Moses had 12 points and eight rebounds in the first half and later reached his ninth double-double, and Teague finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Sean Sellers made two 3-pointers to tie Jesse Berry for the top spot on Ball State's all-time list with 224 career 3s.

The Cardinals started the game on an 8-0 run for their fourth straight game with an opening lead of at least 7-0.

Eugene German, the MAC leading scorer at 20.5 points per game, scored 25 points for NIU (12-16, 5-10). Anastasios Demogerontas added 13 points and Levi Bradley 10.