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DENTON, Texas ? The Indiana State men's basketball team was looking to get back on the winning side of things on Saturday afternoon on the road against North Texas. However, the Mean Green (3-0) had other ideas and stayed undefeated on the early season as they handed the Sycamores (1-2) a 78-69 loss in front of 2,531 at the Super Pit.
Indiana State was up early in the game, as sophomore Marico Stinson scored the first four points of the contest to put ISU up 4-0. The lead would eventually grow to 8-3 on back-to-back buckets by senior Gabe Moore with 15:37 left on the clock. However, the Mean Green would fight back and tie the game at 8-8 on a jumper by Quincy Williams. The two teams then fought back and forth with two more ties before North Texas went on a 9-2 run to take a 23-16 advantage with 9:24 left in the half.
The Sycamores eventually cut the lead to three points at 23-20 on a Cole Holmstrom jumper before the Mean Green went on an 18-6 run to balloon the lead to 15 points at 41-26 with just over two minutes left on the clock. ISU would fight back to score the next five points, thanks to a layup from freshman Isiah Martin and a three-pointer from senior Todd McCoy to make the score 41-31 in favor of North Texas at the half.
The two teams traded baskets to begin the second half and the Sycamores cut the lead to single digits at eight points on a Harry Marshall jumper just under five minutes into the half. The Mean Green then took over and scored the next 10 points to widen the lead to 56-38 on a jumper by Josh White jumper that caused ISU head coach Kevin McKenna to call a timeout.
Following the timeout, the Sycamores ripped off seven-straight points and cut the lead to 11 at 56-45 with 11:03 left in the game. However, ISU could not keep the momentum going and North Texas led by as much as 17 points at 72-55 with just 3:44 left in the game. The roller-coaster second half continued as the Sycamores fought back with the next nine points and cut the lead to 72-64 on an Aaron Carter free throw with just over a minute to play. But, the Mean Green held off the late Sycamore charge and held on for a 78-69 victory.
Indiana State shot just 36.4 percent from the field in the game, including just a 4-for-30 performance from beyond the arch. Stinson led the way with 15 points for the Sycamores, while Moore and Jay Tunnel also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. The Mean Green were led by Collin Dennis, who scored a game-high 22 points and Williams who scored 14 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.
Two-straight home games now await the Sycamores, with Tuesday's game against Northern Illinois being first on the schedule. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Hulman Center.
