By Mark Bennett
A powerful second-half three-point play by
Indiana State freshman Jerod Adler left his Southwest Missouri
State defender flat on his back.
And with 14 minutes left in Sunday's Missouri
Valley Conference basketball game in Hulman Center, Adler's layup
and free throw left the Bears trailing 34-27 and seemingly ready
to be beaten.
Instead, SMS took control and won 59-53.
There were plenty of statistics and plays
down the stretch to blame. The Sycamores (4-14 overall, 2-7 in
the MVC) hit a season-low 33.3 percent of their field goals,
missed eight of 19 free throws and got outrebounded 39-33. They
went 5 minutes and 35 seconds without scoring after Adler's play,
while the Bears (10-11, 5-4) went on a 14-0 run.
But ISU Coach Royce Waltman said the difference
between winning and losing Sunday boiled down to effort. He got
a career-high 20 points from Kante, who added 11 rebounds for
his second consecutive statistical double-double game. The 6-foot-8,
245-pound senior also played a game-high 37 minutes, as did freshman
point guard Lamar Grimes. Grimes had 12 points, six assists,
three steals, three rebounds and just two turnovers.
"Djibril certainly had an outstanding
game. And Lamar tried to get some things done. But that's not
enough," Waltman said. "I can't come up with anybody
else who made any contributions."
ISU's only other double-figure scorer was
sophomore guard Marcus Howard, who had 10 points, three rebounds,
two assists, two steals and no turnovers in 36 minutes.
The rest of the team hit just four of 22 field
goals. And one of those came from Adler, who played only five
minutes.
"I've been here four and a half years,
and I don't know if you've ever heard me speak negatively about
players. [But] we had a bunch of guys today that didn't try,"
Waltman said. "You can't win if you don't care."
Ironically, the same topic came up in the
visitors' lockerroom at halftime, when the Bears were tied at
26-26 with the Sycamores, and again during a timeout after Adler's
basket. SMS Coach Barry Hinson threatened to put his team through
a post-game practice "at 12:01 a.m. in Hulman [Center]."
ing problems. "And we just have to have
heart to get it."
The Bears responded by taking a 41-34 lead
and never gave it up.
"Thank goodness it came out," Hinson
said, "because my wife would be really upset if I didn't
come home tonight."
Hinson almost had a lot of "splainin'
to do," as Ricky Ricardo once said.
|
|
 |
| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| Help: Indiana State guard
Lamar Grimes (left) guards Southwest Missouri State guard Terreance
McGee in the Sycamores 59-53 loss to the Bears on Sunday in Hulman
Center. |
Grimes and Kante chipped away at the SMS lead
several times. They were within two at 41-39 after two free throws
by Kante and Grimes' 3-pointer, and again at 43-41 when Kante
yanked down a rebound and flipped a pass to Grimes for a layup.
Finally, with 57 seconds left, Howard lofted in a jumper from
the baseline after rebounding a missed 3-pointer by Grimes, and
ISU was within one at 54-53. And after SMS freshman Tamarr Maclin
hit his first free throw and missed the second, the Sycamores
had the ball and a chance to tie or go ahead.
Instead, Grimes stumbled on a drive to the
basket, and SMS guard Robert Yanders stole the ball, drew a foul
and hit two free throws.
The Bears had won, even though their four
top scorers struggled offensively. But while those four double-figure
men - Yanders, Terrance McGee, Mike Wallace and Scott Brakebill
- combined for just 27 points, their frontcourt reserves flourished.
Maclin had nine points and seven rebounds in just 16 minutes,
and Monwell Randle added seven points, four rebounds and two
blocked shots in 17 minutes.
"They came up with big baskets, and we
just didn't respond," Grimes said. "We just kind of
faded. We didn't keep up the defensive pressure."
Kante agreed. "Pretty much what they
did is what every team's done against us. They hit the offensive
boards and beat us there," he said.
Sunday was ISU's chance to get its first MVC
winning streak in a rocky season. On Wednesday, the Sycamores
had won 71-65 at Northern Iowa, a team that beat conference leader
Southern Illinois on Saturday. Now they'll try again in road
trips to Bradley on Thursday, when injured senior Kelyn Block
is expected to return, and to Wichita State on Sunday.
"It's pretty much a heart thing,"
Kante said, referring specifically to ISU's rebound
|
