By Mark Bennett
The hurt of loss seeped into Kelyn Block's
voice.
For 44 minutes and 50 seconds, the memories
of a tough basketball season seemed to disappear inside rowdy
Levitt Arena on Sunday afternoon. Block and his Indiana State
Sycamore teammates had rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit
to force overtime. And with 15.6 seconds left in the extra period
and host Wichita State holding a tenuous 85-84 lead after a three-point
play by freshman Rob Kampman, ISU had the ball and a chance to
win.
Block, a senior, was playing in his home state
for the last time in his college career. His father and grandfather
were in the crowd of 8,289 watching. And the Kansas City native
had already scored a career-high 25 points when the last play
unfolded.
"It was just one of those times we just
went out there to play basketball," Block said quietly.
"We went out there to have fun. We didn't worry about the
score. We just went out there and made plays."
That magic disappeared in the final seconds.
As ISU tried to set up a winning basket, freshman
point guard Lamar Grimes pulled back from the Shockers' defense
and attempted to hand the ball to Block. Wichita State freshman
Jamar Howard cut off the pass and threw the ball to teammate
C.C. McFall who sank two final free throws.
Deja vu all over again.
"That's four games that we've mishandled
the last possession and not got a shot to win the game,"
ISU Coach Royce Waltman said.
The Sycamores (4-16 overall, 2-9 in the Missouri
Valley Conference) had lost again, 87-84.
The Shockers (12-10, 6-5) thought Block would
end up with the ball.
"We knew the ball was going in his hands,"
Howard said. "So I was just trying to deny him."
But Waltman was just looking for any one of
his backcourt drivers to work for the final shot, including Block,
sophomore Marcus Howard and Grimes.
"You're on the road and you're going
to get the last shot to win the basketball game and you throw
it away," Waltman said.
Still, Grimes was trying to get the ball to
a teammate who had won several ISU games with clutch shots in
his four seasons and who had hit 7 of 14 shots, including three
long 3-pointers. "The ball ended up in [Lamar's] hands,
and I thought he would go to the basket. Instead, he tried to
get it to Kelyn," Waltman explained. "In [Lamar's]
defense, Kelyn had carried us and maybe he thought that was the
right thing to do."
Turgeon credited Jamar Howard, who had three
steals to go with 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two
turnovers in 38 minutes.
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| Wichita
Eagle/Jeff Tuttle |
| Loose ball: Indiana State's
Djibril Kante throws a pass to a teammate while lying on the
floor. |
"He's a tremendous defender, and that's
why he stole the ball," Turgeon said.
The Sycamores' comeback - from deficits as
large as 35-19 in the first half, and 48-33 in the second half
- was scuttled by other miscues as well.
Tied 75-75, ISU had the ball with 16.6 seconds
left in regulation. But this time the ball bounced away from
Block as he dribbled. By the time he chased it down deep in the
backcourt, he could only heave up a desperate 3-point that banged
off the rim.
One month earlier, Block was undergoing a
somewhat rare surgical procedure to repair a tear in a muscle
near his right knee cap. He missed seven games, and returned
to score 11 points off the bench in a 60-57 loss at Bradley last
Thursday. On Sunday, Block had 25 points, six rebounds, two assists
and just two turnovers.
He gave ISU its biggest leads, with a 5-0
outburst by himself to open the game and then on a crafty drive
for a layup past Jamar Howard for an 83-80 edge with 1:22 to
go in overtime.
"Kelyn played great," Waltman said.
"Coming back this quickly off an injury and having two games
as he's had is really rather remarkable. It's just too bad it
couldn't have resulted in a win for him."
Marcus Howard and Djibril added 17 points
each. Grimes had nine points, two assists, a steal and seven
turnovers. The Shockers got a career-best 24 points from McFall,
a senior. Kampman had eight points and 10 rebounds. Wichita State
outshot ISU from the field at 52.8 percent to 46.2 percent and
from the free throw line at 79.4 percent to 61 percent. WSU also
won the rebounding war 40-25.
Still, the Sycamores, who play host to first-place
Creighton at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, had a chance to win.
Turgeon was impressed.
"I don't know what their record is,"
he said, "but they're the best team in the country for that
record."
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