By Mark Bennett
The kids came through.
On a night when the Indiana State Sycamores'
three seniors were held to a combined 16 points, their younger
teammates led ISU to its biggest scoring performance in regulation
this season, beating Evansville 82-71 in Roberts Stadium.
And they did it from long range, giving the
Sycamores (6-18 overall, 4-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference)
their first two-game winning streak since a pair of non-conference
victories in December. ISU shot 32 3-pointers, just two shy of
the school record, and sank 11.
Freshman Lamar Grimes scored 25 points in
29 minutes off the bench. Sophomore starter Marcus Howard added
20. Both were career highs. And sophomore Matt Berry chipped
in with 13 as a reserve. Senior leading scorer Kelyn Block was
1 for 9 from the field with three points, though he also had
seven assists and just one turnover.
"That's really important," Sycamore
Coach Royce Waltman said of the help given the seniors.
Statistically, the Purple Aces' defense beyond
the arc is the MVC's most vulnerable. And the Sycamores wasted
no time in testing it. They launched 22 3-point shots in the
first half alone, hitting eight.
That was just four attempts shy of Indiana
State's season-high for an entire game.
Evansville's tight coverage of senior big
men Djibril Kante and Terence Avery opened the deep shots, Waltman
said.
"We just had to take advantage of that,"
added Howard. "They were playing off, and we were getting
good looks."
Twice, ISU erased Evansville leads by going
deep. Berry's 3-pointer put the Sycamores ahead 18-17. And with
3 minutes and 21 seconds left in the first half, Grimes sank
a 3-pointer for a 34-32 ISU edge.
By halftime, one thing was for sure. The homely,
low-scoring atmosphere of the first Sycamore-Aces meeting --
a record-setting 45-40 ISU win at Terre Haute on Jan. 5 -- would
not be repeated in the rematch. Grimes scored 13 points in Saturday's
first 20 minutes. No player scored more than 11 in the January
game.
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In fact, the two teams had virtually equaled
their entire offensive output of ISU-UE I when Djibril Kante's
free throw raised the Sycamore lead to 44-40 with 16:18 left
in the second half.
"I thought I came in and gave the team
a spark," Grimes said.
Despite the 3-point barrage, ISU gained control
of the game by driving toward the basket later in the second
half. With the score even at 44-44, Howard and Grimes hit baseline
jumpers, and Berry hit two free throws after being fouled on
a layup try.
And with just under 10 minutes to play, Berry
sapped the life out of the Roberts Stadium crowd of 6,124 when
spun in a shot off the glass and got fouled as he fell to the
floor. Berry hit the free throw to complete the three-point play
and ISU led 58-53.
"Once I drew contact, I just looped it
up there with my left hand," Berry said. "And it went
in."
"That kind of got us going," Howard
said.
Though the last-place Aces (5-19, 2-13) later
cut a 12-point ISU lead to six, the Sycamores never trailed again.
"They made a couple runs at us, and we
did a good job of being calm and answering them," Howard
said.
Waltman agreed, especially after the same
Sycamores had collapsed when opponents made second-half surges
in previous games.
"Unlike some other games we've had, we
had some good offensive possessions after they made runs at us,"
he said.
It was a five-point run by Kante that put
ISU up 70-58 with 4:45 to go. He finished with six points and
nine rebounds.
"Kante was extremely good for them down
the stretch," said Aces Coach Jim Crews, who got double-figure
scoring from all five of his starters, led by Tobias Brinkley's
15 points. Brinkley also had 13 rebounds. Ian Hanavan added 14
points.
The outcome sends the Sycamores into Tuesday's
7:05 p.m. game against Drake in Hulman Center.
"Hopefully, this will carry over,"
Grimes said.
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