JONESBORO, Ark. -- Indiana State raced out to a large second half lead and overcame a late flurry by Arkansas State to earn a 77-72 road victory over the Red Wolves in front of 2,436 fans at the ASU Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon.

Indiana State improved to 5-2 with the victory while Arkansas State fell to 3-2. It was the Red Wolves first loss this season at home and was ISU's second victory on the road in a row.

Indiana State fell behind the host Red Wolves by the score of 11-4 in the first half just three minutes in, but charged but charged back to 11-10 on 3-pointers by Koang Duluony and Jake Kelly over the next two minutes. The Sycamores held Arkansas State without a bucket until the 12:47 mark when a Brandon Peterson jumper made it 15-14.

After a Josh Crawford jump shot gave the Sycamores its first lead at 16-15 with 12:30 to go before the break, ASU rattled off the game's next seven points to take a 23-16 advantage.

ISU countered with a quick 6-0 spurt, all scored by first half scoring leader Carl Richard as the Sycamores climbed within a point of ASU, 23-22 with 8:20 to go. Richard hit a pair of free throws to answer an ASU score to make it 25-24 before the Red Wolves added another bucket to go up 27-24.

Brant Leitnaker knotted the score at 28 with 4:17 to go after he grabbed a loose ball rebound and went straight up for a score. Dwayne Lathan's driving lay-up and foul shot gave ISU a 31-28 advantage with 2:57 to go. ISU would allow just three more points the rest of the first half to take a 37-33 lead into the lockers.

Indiana State never lost the lead in the second half, but the game was tied at 41 with 16:50 to go, as ISU was held scoreless over a two-minute stretch.

The Sycamores got hot after the score became tied with a 3-pointer by Marshall and a lay-up by Lathan which gave the Sycamores a 46-41 lead.

After the score became 48-45 on a pair of free throws by ASU's Allison, the Sycamores continued its hot shooting with 3-pointers from Jordan Printy, Richard and Rashad Reed to go up 57-45 with 11:11 remaining and force Arkansas State's head coach John Brady to call a timeout.

An emphatic dunk by Leitnaker with 8:49 to go off an assist from Richard gave ISU a 66-50 lead. Leitnaker added a pair of free throws with just over seven minutes to go to set a career high. He finished with 10 points.

Things were tenuous towards the end of the game for the Sycamores as ISU failed to convert a field goal from the 8:49 mark until there was a minute left in the contest. ISU did hit eight charity tosses over that stretch as Leitnaker's dunk with a minute to go gave ISU a 75-67 lead.

Daniel Bryant kept ASU in the thick of it with a personal 5-0 run to edge the cut the Sycamore lead down to 75-72.

The Sycamores broke the press and Reed, who was ISU's hero at the free throw line earlier in the week at Western Kentucky, hit a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to 77-72.

ISU was paced in scoring by Richard who finished with 17 points. Joining Leitnaker and Richard in double figures scoring was Harry Marshall, who hit a three-pointer and a lay-up in both halves to score 12 points. Kelly hit his free throws down the stretch to score 11 points. ISU put at least four players in double figures scoring for the third time this season.

The Sycamores exacted revenge on the Red Wolves for a 56-54 defeat last season at Hulman Center.

Indiana State earned consecutive non-conference road victories for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign when the Sycamores downed Butler and Western Michigan on their home floor.

The 5-2 start record in November is the best for ISU since a 4-2 ledger in 06-07. It is the best start for the Sycamores since an 8-0 spurt to begin the 05-06 season.

Indiana State returns to action on Wednesday, December 9 when they host Ball State. Tipoff is slated for 8:05 p.m. (ET), but follows a women's game at Hulman Center and will depend on the length of the first contest. The game will be carried live on The Crock 92.7 FM as well as online at GoSycamores.com.