ST. LOUIS? ? No. 9 seed Indiana State was faced with the tough task of having to play co-regular season champion and No. 1 seed Northern Iowa on Friday in the quarterfinals of the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.? The two teams went back and forth and the lead changed 17 times, but the Panthers (21-10, 14-4 MVC) held on to defeat the Sycamores (11-21, 7-11 MVC) by a score of 73-69 at the Scottrade Center.

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ISU's Brant Leitnaker put in the first bucket of the game on a reverse lay-up, while UNI answered the Leitnaker two with a lay-up of their own from seven-footer Jordan Eglseder.?? Rashad Reed then came out strong for the Sycamores, converting on two three-pointers and a jumper off of an offensive rebound to give the Sycamores a 10-8 lead at the 16:00 mark. ??Adam Koch connected from three-point range to put the Panthers up 11-10 quickly after at the 15:21 mark, but two free throws from senior Jay Tunnell put ISU back up 12-11.

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Just a minute later, a jumper by Carl Richard gave the Sycamores a 14-13 advantage, but the Panthers roared back with a 6-0 run to take a 19-14 lead on a jumper by Kwadzo Ahelegbe.? After another jumper by Tunnell, Ahelegbe nailed a three pointer to put UNI up 22-16.? From there, back-to-back three pointers by Tunnell and Harry Marshall knotted the score at 22-22 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half.

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A jumper by Koch gave the lead back to the Panthers at 24-22, but another trey from Marshall and a jumper from Tunnell put the Sycamores up 27-24 quickly after.? UNI did not go away though, as Ali Farokhmanesh drained a three pointer to tie the game and Ahelegbe made a layup to put the Panthers up by two at 29-27.? However, a three pointer from Tunnell quickly gave the lead back to the Sycamores at 30-29 with 4:20 left in the half.

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Reed would then convert a layup to put ISU up by three, but two free throws from Ahelegbe cut the lead to one and a three pointer by Farokhmanesh gave the Panthers a two-point lead at 34-32.? Reed then sank a three-pointer to give ISU a one-point advantage, but a jumper and a free throw by Lucas O'Rear on a traditional three-point play put the Sycamores up 37-35 with just 37 seconds remaining.

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That lead was wiped away when Reed slashed to the basket and finished a jumper to tie the game at 37-37 heading into the locker room at halftime. ?The Sycamores shot 53.8 percent from the field in the first half, while UNI made 50 percent of their field goals.? ISU had the only two players in double figures at the half, with Reed scoring 15 first-half points and Tunnell chipping in with 12 points.?

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Coming out of the break, neither team would score until the 18:41 mark when Koch was found under the basket for an easy layup.? Tunnell would answer his bucket with a jumper before Ahelegbe drained a trey to put the Panthers up 42-39. ?With UNI up by five just seconds later, Jordan Printy made his first three-pointer of the game to pull the Sycamores to within two at 44-42 with 16:45 left in the game.

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Ahelegbe continued his strong play and put UNI up by three points at 48-45, but a jumper by Printy and a layup by Richard gave ISU a one-point lead at 49-48.? That lead was later extended to four points, when Richard connected from long distance to make the score 52-48.

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ISU would hold on to that lead and extended it to six points at 58-52 on a three-pointer by Aaron Carter with 8:47 left in the game.? From there, the Panthers would chip away at the Sycamores' lead, eventually cutting it to one at 60-59 after a tip-in by O'Rear with 4:37 left in the game.? Six straight points after that bucket by the Panthers gave them a 65-60 lead with just 2:36 remaining.

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Indiana State attempted to make a comeback and UNI missed some key free throws down the stretch to keep the score close, but ISU could only get within two points at 71-69 after a layup by Carter as UNI went on to secure the 73-69 victory.

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ISU ended the season with an overall record of 11-21, but the Sycamores caught fire late in the year and won seven out of their last nine games.? Tunnell finished his four-year career at ISU with a solid game, as he scored 17 points and tallied eight rebounds for ISU.? Reed led the way for ISU, as he tied his career high with 21 points and three assists.

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