TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Indiana State was hungry for a victory Saturday afternoon at the Hulman Center as they hosted DePauw on Nellie and John Wooden Court as part of the Sycamore Holiday Showcase. Although the Sycamores failed to convert a single three-point basket, 22 points from the free-throw line and a 42-27 advantage on the boards helped the Sycamores defeat the Tigers (5-4) to secure their second victory of the 2008-09 season.
Senior Jay Tunnell, playing in the 100th game of his career at ISU, scored the first bucket of the afternoon on the Sycamores' opening possession when he tipped in his own shot. Sophomore Aaron Carter followed on the ensuing possession with a nifty slam dunk from the left baseline to help the Sycamores jump out to a quick 4-0 lead with 18:18 showing on the clock.
DePauw's Tony James made good on two layups within a one-minute span and Tom Callen dropped the first Tiger jump shot at 15:32 to tie the game for the first time at 6-6. The Tigers scored four straight points when Joe Bergfield converted his layup attempt and then went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line less than a minute later putting the visiting Division III Tigers ahead 10-6.
DePauw's 8-0 run was stopped by junior Rashad Reed who drove to the basket, made the layup, and was fouled at the same time. Reed converted the three-point play at the 12:58 to bring his team back within one.
The highlight of the first half came about 15 seconds later when Jordan Printy made an alley-oop pass to Josh Crawford who slammed the ball home to regain the lead for the Sycamores, 11-10. In the next five minutes, the home squad outscored the Tigers 9-5 thanks to Crawford and Harry Marshall, who combined for seven of those nine points. The 9-5 run was capped off by Tunnell, who scored his second basket off a short jumper from the left baseline putting the Sycamores ahead 20-15 with eight minutes left in the half.
Crawford and Marshall continued to pace the Sycamores for the remainder of the half scoring eight points each before the first half clock ticked down to zero. The two scored back-to-back buckets to increase the Sycamore lead to eight with just under five minutes to go in the half. The Tigers managed to pull within four with 1:14 remaining, but two free-throw baskets by Isiah Martin and a layup by Carter to end the half put the Sycamores back up by eight for a halftime score of 33-25.
DePauw remained undaunted coming into the second half fueled by a three-point basket just eight seconds in by Steve Lemasters, his second of the game. The visitors continued to chip away at their 33-28 deficit and managed to claw their way back into a one-point game with 15:03 to go thanks to Lemasters, who scored the first eleven points of the second half for DePauw. Lemasters drained three consecutive three-point baskets, topped off by a short jumper in the paint, to put the score at 39-36 in favor of the Sycamores with 12:42 on the clock.
Two minutes later the Tigers found themselves behind by just one point after scoring five-straight points capped off by a Mike Moore jumper in the paint at 10:58 remaining in the game.
The Sycamores refused to give up the lead. Reed nailed both of his jumpers and Marshall went 8-for-10 at the free-throw line from that point on to help the home team obtain its largest lead of the game 58-46 with 3:46 remaining. Martin also chipped in five points to cushion the Sycamore lead.
Although the Tigers pulled within four with 1:05 to go, the Sycamores held on for a 66-60 victory. The Sycamores shot 47.8 percent from the field, including 0-10 from three-point range. The last time the Sycamores failed to make a single three-point basket was back on February 9, 2000, against Northern Iowa when they went 0-7.
Marshall led all scorers with 18 points, ten of which came from the charity stripe. Tunnell, Reed, and Crawford each contributed ten to the cause for ISU
For the Tigers, Lemasters was 6-for-11 including 4-for-7 from behind the arc for a total of 17 points. He was followed by James who had 15 and Callen who tallied ten. DePauw shot 40 percent from the field.
The Sycamores return to action on Tuesday, December 23, against IUPUI at Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.
