Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Indiana State Sycamores got back to their defensive strengths and backed that up with 50 percent shooting in the second half as they earned a 63-56 victory over visiting Drake in front of 3,409 fans inside Hulman Center.
Indiana State has won three of their last four and improved to 13-10, 7-4 MVC while Drake fell to 6-17, 1-10 MVC. The Sycamores are now 72-8 when holding teams to 63 points or less under sixth year head coach Greg Lansing and the 56 points allowed is a defensive best during Missouri Valley Conference action. It is also the second lowest point total allowed this entire season just off the 55 points allowed to Wyoming back on November 16.
Brenton Scott led the way for the Sycamores with 13 points and five rebounds while Devonte Brown was just behind at 12 points. Khristian Smith tallied 10 points while Everett Clemons came off the bench to score eight points and once again lead the Sycamores with nine rebounds. Drake held a 45-41 edge on the glass, but the Sycamores owned a 15-13 margin in second chance points as well as a 34-20 advantage in the paint.
The Sycamore defense also blocked a season-best 10 shots. Emondre Rickman, Niels Bunschoten and Devonte Brown all blocked a pair in the contest. Indiana State converted 13 turnovers into 10 points and dished out 13 assists on the offensive end.
Indiana State won for the third consecutive time at home against Drake and earned the season series sweep. The Sycamores are now owners of an eight game home court winning streak and it was their 59th Missouri Valley Conference victory over the last six seasons. Indiana State is a perfect 6-0 in league play inside Hulman Center – its first time achieving that mark since the 2012-13 campaign when they also won their first six. ISU is now 48-31 in bounce back games after a loss under coach Lansing who earned his 107th career victory.
The Sycamores hit 14-of-28 shots in the second half and allowed just a 32.8 shooting percentage from the Bulldogs in the win. Indiana State connected on six 3-point shots in the contest.
Tied at 45 with seven minutes remaining, the big momentum changing shot in the game came from Grant Prusator who hit an open 3-pointer in the right corner off the assist from Scott to put ISU up by three points. The run continued with a Scott lay-ups on consecutive possessions and suddenly the Sycamores found themselves up 52-45 with 5:42 to go. The run reached eight in a row as Scott completed the conventional 3-point play.
Drake ended the eight point Sycamore spurt as they broke a three minute drought with a tip-in from Jacob Enevold to trim the cushion down to 53-47. Brown countered with a lay-up and a 3-point play by Reed Timmer was answered by a Scott jumper at the 2:47 mark for the 57-50 Sycamore lead. Timmer's trifecta with 34 seconds remaining cut the Sycamore lead down to 59-56, but Clemons buried a pair of free throws with 28 seconds to go to stretch the advantage out to five points. Murphy and Matt Van Scyoc each hit one free throw each over the final 18 seconds as the Sycamores walked out of Hulman Center with the 63-56 victory.
Brown got things going on the first offensive possession with a driving lay-up and they scored five in a row off a Brown jumper and Scott 3-pointer to lead 7-2 three minutes in. The Bulldogs would go on a 13-0 spurt as the Sycamores went scoreless for five minutes and then Brown scored Indiana State's next field goal at the 11:52 mark to trim the Drake lead down to 15-10.
It ended up being a 9-0 Sycamore run as Khristian Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers as ISU edged ahead 16-15. Two free throws were all the Bulldogs would get as a prolonged 15-2 run was finally ended on a jumper by Ore Arogundade at the 5:27 mark to cut the Sycamore lead down to 22-19. All told, Drake was held without a field goal for nearly minutes of game time. The first half of runs continued with seven points in a row for the Bulldogs as they took a 26-22 lead at the 2:28 mark on a conventional 3-point play by Graham Woodward.
Scott stopped the Drake string with a 3-pointer on the Sycamores' next possession and Brown hit 1-of-2 free throws to send Indiana State into the locker room down just 28-26. Brown and Smith led the Trees with eight first half points.
Drake scored the first five points after halftime to take a 31-28 lead, but Murphy got the friendly roll to trim the lead down to 31-30. ISU went ahead briefly on Smith jumper but Enevold answered with a lay-up at the 18:01 mark as they retook a 33-32 advantage. Murphy scored again inside two minutes later, but Drake scored five in a row and led 38-34 at the 14:28 mark.
Clemons drove to the basket for a lay-up to trim the lead to two points before Billy Wampler hit 1-of-2 charity tosses to stretch the lead out to 39-36. A lay-up from Arogundade gave the Bulldogs a 43-40 lead with 11:04 to go, but Murphy scored his sixth points of the second half to knot the game at 45 with 7:57 to play.
Timmer led the Bulldogs with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Arogundade also scored 15 off the bench.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, February 6 when they travel to Bradley for an 8:00 p.m. (ET) tip-off in Peoria. The game will be telecast world-wide on The Valley On ESPN3.
