TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Playing without leading scorer Harry Marshall, the Indiana State Sycamores(4-13, 2-4 MVC) struggled offensively against the conference leading Bradley Braves (11-6, 5-1 MVC) and their stingy defense, falling 63-52 Tuesday night on Nellie & John Wooden Court at Hulman Center.
It was apparent from the start that it would be a physical and defensive game, as it took until the 17:46 mark for Rashad Reed to open the scoring putting in two of his team high 12 points. After going 3-for-3 from three- point range Saturday against Illinois State, Jordan Printy continued his hot shooting early on by knocking down a trey from the right corner giving the Sycamores an early 5-4 lead with 16:29 to go in the first half.
Jay Tunnell later gave the Sycamores a two point advantage at 10-8 by draining a three from the top of the key with 14:36 left in the first half. It was the last time Indiana State would have the lead. A good sight for Sycamore fans came with 13:42 left in the first half, when freshman point guard Tyler Cutter entered the game marking his first action since injuring his ankle in practice before the IUPUI game.
Isiah Martin got the crowd going when he made a great play by blocking a shot in the lane and then out-hustling the Bradley defense for an easy two at the other end with the help of a great pass by Cutter to tie the score at 12-12 at the 12:36 mark of the first half.
Bradley then took the lead and steadily increased their advantage to 28-19, its largest of the half, when Taylor Brown converted 1-of-2 free throws capping a 6-0 Brave run at the 1:39 mark. Prior to Brown's free throw, Dodie Dunson scored five of his game high 15 points on the next two Brave possessions, hitting a three-pointer followed by a lay-up.
Tunnel made his second three-pointer from the identical spot as his first with seven seconds left to play to cut the Bradley advantage to 28-22 heading into the locker room at halftime. Indiana State shot only 29 percent from the field in the first twenty minutes and committed nine costly turnovers. The 22 first-half points was the third lowest Sycamore scoring output of the season.
Theron Wilson opened the second half scoring with a thunderous dunk giving the Braves an eight point advantage at 30-22 with 18:54 to go in the game. Aaron Carter later hit a pair of free throws and he and Printy made back-to-back jumpers cutting the Bradley lead to two, 32-30, with 15:08 on the clock.
The Braves' Chris Roberts and Sam Maniscalco responded with five quick points of their own, going back up by seven, 37-30, with 13:54 to play. After the Sycamores' Josh Crawford threw down a dunk to pull his team within three, Dunson responded with five straight points, highlighted by a traditional three-point play to increase the visitor's lead to eight at 45-37 with 10:14 to go.
Hulman Center came back to life when Reed hit consecutive three-pointers with 8:04 remaining, cutting the Bradley lead back down to two at 46-44, forcing Bradley head coach Jim Les to call a timeout.
From there, it was all Bradley as they finished the game on a 17-8 run that highlighted by an Eddren McCain spinning jumper in the lane and a Dunson drive to the basket for a final tally of 63-52.
Reed led a quartet of Sycamores in double figures with 12 points, four assists and four rebounds. Tunnell added eleven points and four rebounds for ISU as well and Carter and Martin added ten points each. Dunson, a teammate of Reed's at Vincennes University, led all scorers with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
Indiana State will travel to Evansville this weekend to take on the Purple Aces on January 17 for an 8:05 p.m. tipoff at Roberts Stadium.
