Skip To Main Content

Indiana State University Athletics

Sycamores Fall Late To Green Bay In Bracketbusters Event

Basketball ISU Athletics

Sycamores Fall Late To Green Bay In Bracketbusters Event

Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Indiana State Sycamores had a chance to earn a road win over Green Bay in the final seconds in front of 3,395 fans at the Resch Center as part of the annual Bracketbusters event but the Phoenix held on to a lead that they attained with 13 seconds remaining and earned a 60-59 victory over ISU.

The Sycamores snapped a three-game winning streak and fell to 16-12 while Green Bay won its final home game of the regular season and improved to 19-10.

Indiana State trailed Green Bay 60-59 with three seconds left and the ball on its own baseline. Carl Richard's attempt of a set play at the horn fell short as the Phoenix earned a come-from-behind victory over the Sycamores.

Koang Doluony paced Indiana State with a career-high 14 points; all scored in the first half. Doluony went 5-of-7 from the field, hit a pair of 3-pointers and was 2-of-2 at the free throw line. He was joined in double figures by Rashad Reed with 13 and Aaron Carter with 12.

Carl Richard paced ISU with a career-best 14 rebounds, the most by a Sycamore since Matt Renn collected 15 rebounds on Feb. 26, 2001 against Southern Illinois.

The Sycamores owned a 43-27 lead in the rebounding wars and used 13 offensive rebounds (five by Richard himself) to score 14 second chance points. ISU hit 21-of-55 shots from the field (38.2 percent), including 7-of-20 from 3-point range (35 percent).

Rahmon Fletcher paced Green Bay with 22 points. He was joined in double figures by Rian Pearson with 17 points and Bryquis Perine had 15 points.

ISU fell to 3-3 in the original portion of the Bracketbusters series with the loss at Green Bay.

Green Bay cut the Sycamores' five-point halftime lead down to 31-28 on their first possession of the second half, but ISU was able to muster a 3-pointer from Rashad Reed as well as another long jumper from the senior to stretch the advantage out to 35-28 with 17:46 left in the contest. Green Bay answered with a conventional 3-point play but Aaron Carter had the counter with a triple of his down to make it 39-31 with 16:07 to go.

The Phoenix made it 39-31 on a 3-pointer by Rahmon Fletcher before Reed continued his solid second half play with a pair of free throws with 14 minutes to go which gave the Sycamores a 41-34 lead.

The two teams traded baskets from that point on as ISU staked themselves to a 45-38 lead with 12:19 remaining in the contest on a turnaround jumper by Richard.

Green Bay closed to 46-42 before Carter came up big for the second time in the second half with a wide open 3-pointer against the Phoenix defense to stretch the lead out to 49-42 with 9:15 remaining. The Phoenix were able to get an answer from Fletcher with a triple of his own on the next possession as Green Bay closed to within 49-45 as the clocked ticked under nine minutes.

Reed connected on his second 3-pointer of the second half which helped ISU stretch its cushion back out to 52-45 with 7:56 left in the contest.

With just over six minutes left in the game, Berry hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 52-46, before Carter hit two free throws with 5:54 remaining, which gave the Sycamores a 54-46 advantage. After Green Bay got another bucket, Carter answered with a pair of charity tosses for the 56-50 lead.

After a Sycamore turnover, Perine hit a 3-pointer to make it 56-53 and then Fletcher made a driving lay-up as the Phoenix cut the contest down to 56-55 as the clock went under four minutes to go. A triple by Fletcher with 1:52 remaining gave Green Bay a 58-56 lead.

Reed answered to give the Sycamores control again with his third 3-pointer of the second half as ISU regained the lead with 38 seconds left, 59-58. It was ISU's first points since the 5:03 mark and its first field goal since the eight-minute mark.

Fletcher wrestled the lead back for Green Bay at 60-59 with 12 seconds remaining.

The Sycamores scored the game's first points at the 17:15 mark of the first half on a post feed into senior Josh Crawford and limited the Phoenix without a bucket until the 15:59 mark when they tied the contest at two on a score by Bryquis Perine. ISU missed eight of its first nine shots from the field and committed three early turnovers while Green Bay missed seven of their first eight and committed one early turnover.

ISU fell behind 4-2, but Doluony knotted the contest at four. The Sycamores found a brief lead inside by Isiah Martin before Green Bay tied the contest again on their next possession. ISU then embarked on a 10-0 spurt, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Doluony, including his second with 11:03 remaining b before the break to cap the run.

Indiana State went scoreless until the 7:45 mark when Carl Richard broke the skid with a second chance bucket to give ISU an 18-12 lead.

Green Bay cut the Sycamore cushion down to 20-18, but Brant Leitnaker converted a conventional 3-point play with 5:07 remaining in the opening stanza to stretch the advantage back out to 23-18 before Doluony hit another shot for a 25-18 advantage.

The Sycamore lead got cut down to 25-23, but ISU scored six consecutive points, highlighted by a dunk from Josh Crawford to retake a 31-23 lead with 1:21 to go before the break.

Rian Pearson added two free throws with a minute left as ISU led 31-26 at the half.

Dolouny reached his career high just nine minutes in the contest and finished the half by leading ISU with 14 points. The Sycamores out-rebounded the Phoenix 22-13 at the break. ISU hit 13-of-29 shots before halftime and used seven offensive rebounds to score 11 second chance points.

Indiana State returns to Missouri Valley Conference play on Wednesday, February 24 when the Sycamores travel to Illinois State. Tipoff is set for 8:05 p.m. (ET) from Redbird Arena. The game can be heard live on The Crock 92.7FM as well as online at GoSycamores.com.


Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Aaron Carter

#32 Aaron Carter

G
6' 4"
Junior
Josh Crawford

#5 Josh Crawford

C
6' 11"
Senior
Koang Doluony

#1 Koang Doluony

F
6' 7"
Redshirt Freshman
Brant Leitnaker

#0 Brant Leitnaker

C
6' 10"
Junior
Isiah Martin

#21 Isiah Martin

F/C
6' 8"
Junior
Rashad Reed

#3 Rashad Reed

G
6' 1"
Senior
Carl Richard

#34 Carl Richard

G/F
6' 5"
Sophomore
Aaron Carter

#32 Aaron Carter

G
6' 4"
Senior
Koang Doluony

#1 Koang Doluony

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Isiah Martin

#21 Isiah Martin

F/C
6' 8"
Senior
Carl Richard

#15 Carl Richard

G/F
6' 5"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Aaron Carter

#32 Aaron Carter

6' 4"
Junior
G
Josh Crawford

#5 Josh Crawford

6' 11"
Senior
C
Koang Doluony

#1 Koang Doluony

6' 7"
Redshirt Freshman
F
Brant Leitnaker

#0 Brant Leitnaker

6' 10"
Junior
C
Isiah Martin

#21 Isiah Martin

6' 8"
Junior
F/C
Rashad Reed

#3 Rashad Reed

6' 1"
Senior
G
Carl Richard

#34 Carl Richard

6' 5"
Sophomore
G/F
Aaron Carter

#32 Aaron Carter

6' 4"
Senior
G
Koang Doluony

#1 Koang Doluony

6' 8"
Sophomore
F
Isiah Martin

#21 Isiah Martin

6' 8"
Senior
F/C
Carl Richard

#15 Carl Richard

6' 5"
Junior
G/F