WICHITA, Kan. ? Saturday's road contest at Wichita State wrapped up a tough stretch of games for Indiana State, ending a stretch where the Sycamores played six out of their last eight games on the road. The Sycamores (10-13, 5-8 MVC) were looking to cap that difficult stretch off with a win, however they could not hold onto late a second half lead and dropped a 65-60 decision to the Shockers (10-14, 3-10 MVC) in front of a capacity crowd at Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State jumped out to an early 6-4 lead, before a three-pointer and a jumper by senior Gabe Moore gave ISU its first lead of the game at 9-6. The Shockers then answered with a 9-0 run to jump out to a 15-9, but the Sycamores answered right back with a 7-0 run, five of which were scored by junior Jay Tunnell, to take a 16-15 lead with 8:14 left in the first half.
After the teams traded the lead four times over the next four-plus minutes, the Sycamores widened the lead to five at 25-20 after a Marico Stinson three-pointer and a Moore jumper with just over two minutes remaining. WSU's P.J. Couisnard answered by connecting from three-point range to cut the ISU lead to two points before Stinson connected on his second three-pointer to give ISU a 28-23 lead with 1:19 left. Wichita State got the last points of the half, courtesy of a layup by J.T. Durley with 11 seconds left in the half to bring the score to 28-25 at the intermission. In all, there were nine lead changes in the half.
Indiana State maintained a small lead until a Matt Braeuer layup put the Shockers up 36-34 with 15:58 on the clock. However, the Sycamores answered with a 9-0 run sparked by back-to-back three-pointers by Tunnell and Cole Holmstrom, to take a 43-36 lead. ISU maintained the seven-point lead at 49-42 after a Harry Marshall three-pointer, but the Shockers scored the next five points to cut the lead to two at 49-47 with 7:55 left in the game.
Moore then connected on a three-pointer to give the Sycamores a five-point advantage with 7:23 left on the clock, but the Shockers answered with a 9-0 run to take a four-point lead at 56-52 with 3:41 left in the game. The Shocker lead would eventually grow to as much as seven points with just under two minutes left and the Sycamores could not mount a comeback and fell by the final score of 65-60.
Moore led the way for ISU on the night, scoring 16 points to go along with four assists and two steals in 36 minutes of action. He was joined in double figures by Tunnell with 13 points and four rebounds and Stinson with 12 points. Marshall also put together a solid game by scoring nine points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing five assists. Braeuer led the way for the Shockers with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half.
The Sycamores return to action on Tuesday, February 12, at home against the Bradley Braves. Tip off is set for 7:05 p.m. EST at the Hulman Center.
