TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Heading into Saturday night's regular-season finale against Missouri State, Indiana State knew a win would keep them out of the play-in round for the first time since the 2001 season. However, the Sycamores (14-15, 8-10 MVC) could not shut down the Bears' (16-15, 8-10 MVC) potent offense or senior forward Dale Lamberth and ISU suffered an 83-73 loss to MSU on Senior Night at the Hulman Center.
With the loss, the Sycamores dropped to 12-2 at home and will now be the No. 8 seed in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament beginning on Thursday in St. Louis. ISU will play No. 9 seed Wichita State in Thursday night's 8-9 play in game beginning at 7:05 p.m. EST.
Lamberth got the scoring started by draining a contested three-pointer to put the Bears up 3-0 early. ISU came right back down the floor and junior Jay Tunnell connected on a jumper to cut the lead to one. Following a missed jumper by MSU's Drew Richards, senior Todd McCoy hit a three-pointer to put ISU up 5-3 at the 18:28 mark. Lamberth came right back and tied the game on a jumper and Deven Mitchell hit a jumper to put the Bears up 7-5 just two minutes later. But, the Sycamores did not back away and freshman Isiah Martin slammed home an alley-oop dunk from senior Gabe Moore to knot the score at 7-7.
The Bears scored the next six points to take a 13-7 lead and later extended that lead to 19-9 after a jumper by Chris Cooks. After a free throw by Moore cut the lead to nine, sophomore Harry Marshall put in a layup to cut the MSU lead to 19-12 with 10:16 left to play. MSU's Spencer Laurie answered with a three-pointer to put the Bears back up by 10, before back-to-back three-pointers from Marshall and sophomore Marico Stinson cut the lead to 22-18. McCoy then hit a free throw and followed with a jumper to bring the Sycamores within one point at 22-21 at the 5:56 mark.
MSU then went on a 10-0 run, capped off on a jumper by Lamberth, to widen the lead to 32-21 before a Moore layup and a free throw by Martin cut the lead to 32-24 with 1:30 remaining in the half. Wade Knapp then converted a layup to put the Bears up 34-24 before Martin hit two free throws to cut the lead back to eight. The Bears capped off the half on a three-pointer by Spencer Laurie to take a 37-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Bears rode the momentum from the first half and proceeded to extend their lead to 43-28 just over three minutes into the second half. The lead later grew to 56-38 after a free throw by Cooks at the 12:13 mark before Indiana State began to chip away at the lead, eventually cutting the score to 61-49 at the 7:52 mark after a dunk by Marshall. The Bears then took control and jumped out to a 71-51 lead after two free throws by Lamberth with 5:49 remaining in the game.
The Sycamores tried to claw back into the game and cut the lead to 13 points after a three-pointer by freshman Aaron Carter. After the Bears went back up by 15 at 73-58, ISU cut the lead to 77-66 after a layup by Marshall with 1:30 left. MSU stayed cool down the stretch and converted opportunities from the free throw line and led the game 83-70 after two free throws from Lamberth with 25 seconds left. Marshall hit a three to cut the lead to 10 with 10 seconds remaining, but the Bears held on and secured the 83-73 road victory.
Four Sycamores finished the game in double figures, with Marshall leading the way with 18 points. Moore added 17 points and six assists in the final home game of his career, while Martin finished with 11 points and Carter added 10 for ISU. Lamberth led all scorers with 37 points on 14-of-17 shooting, while Laurie finished with 15 in the win for MSU.
