By Mark Bennett
Five-foot, 11-inch Marcello Robinson -- Bradley's
point guard -- ran down nine rebounds inside Carver Arena on
Thursday night.
The Indiana State Sycamores' top rebounder,
6-8 forward Djibril Kante, had seven rebounds.
And in a tight and rugged college basketball
game, such an extraordinary performance made a big difference.
ISU (4-15 overall, 2-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference) hung
close to the Braves (7-12, 4-6) all night, but lost 60-57.
"Several times the ball was batted loose,
wrestled, kicked, thumped, beat and finally ended up clear at
the top of the circle and Marcello often came up with those,"
Sycamore Coach Royce Waltman said.
Robinson nearly had the first double-double
of his college career. He finished with 15 points and nine boards.
"I didn't know I had nine rebounds. I was just playing hard,"
Robinson said.
His Sycamore counterpart, freshman Lamar Grimes,
ended up with a game-high 21 points, four assists and four steals.
But ISU's point guard also had eight turnovers.
Though Waltman said Grimes' errors were caused
by judgment rather than finesse, he's anxious to see the turnovers
subside. "Sooner or later, he's got to do a better job with
that," Waltman said.
Still, Grimes almost set up a dramatic finish
by drawing a foul as the final buzzer sounded. But officials
ruled Bradley's James Gillingham had fouled Grimes before he
launched a long 3-pointer, giving Grimes only two free throws
instead of the three he would have gotten if it was a shooting
foul.
"I myself thought he was shooting,"
teammate Kelyn Block said. "But that's a tough call."
Block returned Thursday from a seven-game
absence because of a right knee injury. He was ISU's only other
double-figure scorer with 11 points in 27 minutes as a reserve.
"A few times [the knee] gave out,"
Block said. "I just don't have the strength I have to have
yet."
Three minutes into the game, Block came off
the bench and left little doubt that his right knee was fully
healed from Jan. 4 surgery. Seconds later the 6-foot-2 senior
guard bolted through the Bradley defense for a layup and an early
4-3 Sycamore lead.
But aside from a free throw, the Braves kept
ISU's most prolific scorer quiet the rest of the first half.
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Instead, Grimes, kept the Sycamores close
with 12 points in those first 20 minutes. Their lead disappeared
when Bradley freshman Danny Granger hit a layup for an 8-7 Braves
advantage.
ISU managed to tie the score at 21-21 on Matt
Berry's 3-pointer. But Bradley finished the half on a 13-4 run
to lead 34-25 at halftime, thanks to a defensive flurry by Braves
guards Robinson and Gillingham. Robinson hit a 3-pointer, rebounded
a missed ISU shot and drove the length of the court for a layup.
Gillingham stole the ball from Matt Broermann for a layup. Then,
just before the buzzer, Gillingham took the ball from Grimes
and found Noah Tucker for another layup.
And when Robinson opened the second half with
a quick basket, Bradley had its largest lead at 36-25.
Soon, though, shades of Block's old flair
for the dramatic re-emerged.
Block sank his first second-half shot, a long
3-pointer. Broermann quickly swiped the ball from Bradley and
lofted a long pass to Block for a two-handed dunk. The Braves'
lead was cut to 40-39 with 12 minutes to play.
"It felt good," Block said.
That set up a tight finish.
But things got complex for ISU when Kante
fouled out with three minutes left and first-time starter Jerod
Adler did the same 73 seconds later. Center Terence Avery already
had four fouls.
"It was kind of rough for us because
Djibril and Terence both had fouls," Block said.
Two free throws by Grimes with 8.1 seconds
to play pulled the Sycamores within 58-57. But when ISU responded
by fouling Gillingham with 4.7 seconds left, he hit both free
throws. The Sycamores' inbound pass went to Grimes, who launched
a long 3-pointer after he crossed halfcourt as the buzzer sounded.
One official, though, had whistled a foul by Gillingham. After
long discussion, the referees ruled Gillingham had fouled Grimes
before his shot. So Grimes got just two free throws instead of
one, and eight-tenths of a second were put back on the clock.
Grimes missed both free throws and Bradley
rebounded as the horn sounded again.
Kante, who scored 20 points in a loss to Southwest
Missouri State on Sunday, was held scoreless. "He got in
foul trouble and we just tried to keep him out of the game,"
said Bradley defender Reggie Hall, who had 15 points and eight
rebounds. Danny Granger added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Now with eight regular-season games left,
the Sycamores make the long trip to Wichita State for a 3:05
p.m. game on Sunday.
"I just want to win," Block said.
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