SYCAMORES FALLS IN HOME OPENER TO SAINT LOUIS TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Indiana State Sycamores jumped out to an early lead but the visiting Saint Louis Billikens were able to grind out a 69-56 victory in front of 4,348 fans inside Hulman Center. The Sycamores fell to 1-1 while Saint Louis improved to 2-0. Coming off a career-high 19 points in the opener at IUPUI, Devonte Brown scored 16 in the home opener to go with five rebounds. Also in double figures was Justin Gant who scored 12 points with six rebounds. Khristian Smith and Jake Kitchell each recorded seven rebounds while Kitchell added a career-high six blocked shots. The Sycamores hit 32.8 percent of their shots from the field, and limited the Billikens to a 36.4 percent mark from the field. Each team hit five 3-pointers while Saint Louis made 24 free throws and owned a 47-39 edge in rebounding. Trailing 28-27 at the half, Brenton Scott drilled a jumper just 24 seconds after the break as the Sycamores regained a 29-28 edge. After Saint Louis knotted the contest, Gant went into double digit scoring with just over 17 minutes remaining in regulation with a hook shot in the paint for the 31-29 lead. Devonte Brown hit a floater with 13 minutes remaining as the Sycamores went ahead 33-30. At the 12:18 mark, SLU continued their parade to the free throw line as they made four in a row to move ahead 34-33. A second chance basket from Khristian Smith who reentered the contest after early foul trouble pushed the Sycamores ahead, 35-34 with 11:46 to go. A string of 17 consecutive points dating back to the 4:07 mark of the first half at the free throw line for Saint Louis was broken with a dunk from Milik Yarbrough with 10:54 left in regulation as SLU took a 40-35 lead. A 9-0 run from Saint Louis was ended with 9:40 on the clock with a runner by Smith which cut the SLU advantage to 43-37. Brown then drove the basket at the 7:35 mark to answer a SLU score to cut the edge down to 45-39, but Marcus Bartley had the answer with a trifecta to push their lead out to 48-39. Saint Louis took a 50-40 lead, but Brown kept the Sycamores alive with another driving lay-up to cut the cushion down to just eight points. Yarbroughs conventional 3-point play at the 6:12 mark gave the Billikens a 53-42 advantage. After a SLU 3-pointer stretched their lead out to 14 points, four charity tosses in a row from Brown and Kitchell with just over four minutes remaining crept the Sycamores within 58-48. Brenton Scott tallied a 3-pointer with 3:20 on the clock as the Sycamore inched closer at 60-51. Walk-on Kalen Alexander capped the Sycamores scoring at the buzzer with a 3-pointer to provide the final margin of 69-56. Justin Gant opened the scoring just over one minute in on an inside pass from Jake Kitchell. The Sycamores would score the first 10 points of the game over the first four minutes as Brenton Scott added a 3-pointer while Gant and Kitchell also scored inside. As efficient as the Sycamore offense was over the first four minutes, the defense forced Saint Louis to miss their first seven shots as they led 10-0 heading into the first media timeout. Miles Reynolds broke the Billiken drought at the 14:57 mark to make it 10-2 but a second chance tip-in from Khristian Smith stretched the lead back out to 10 points. After Saint Louis scored four points in a row, T.J. Bell kicked the ball back out to Tre Bennett, who connected on a long 3-pointer at the 11:18 mark to run the advantage out to 17-6. A 3-pointer from Marcus Bartley cut the Indiana State lead down to just four points before consecutive baskets by Gant and Devonte Brown stretched cushion back to nine points at 23-14 with 7:51 on the clock and forced the Billikens to burn a timeout. A conventional 3-point play at the 6:49 mark pushed Indiana State out to its largest lead at that point, 26-14. SLU scored four of the next five points and led 27-19 at the 4:42 mark when the Sycamores called their use it or lose it first half timeout. From that point, SLU continued to inch closer with the next seven points and a pair of free throws with 53 seconds on the clock gave Saint Louis their first lead of the game at 28-27. The Sycamores were not able to score in the final 5:23 as the Billikens scored the final nine points of the half. Gant led Indiana State with nine points at the break. Ash Yacoubou led three Billikens in double figures scoring with 15 points. Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, November 22 when they open play in the Las Vegas Invitational against Brown inside Hulman Center. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. (ET). GOSYCAMORES.COM
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:16:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015