Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State is off to its first 4-0 start to a season since the 2005-06 campaign thanks to a clutch shot by senior Jordan Printy in the waning seconds of a thrilling 57-56 Sycamore victory over Green Bay in front of 4,761 fans inside Hulman Center.
The Sycamores are 4-0 on the year, and have now won 13-of-16 home games under second-year head coach Greg Lansing while Green Bay falls to 2-3.
In earning their first-ever victory over the Phoenix on the hardwood, the Sycamores strong defensive effort upped ISU's record to a perfect 18-0 under Lansing in games in which the opposition scores less than 63 points. The Sycamores have now won 36 games by five points or less than 2005.
Printy, on a night in which he led the team with 12 points, connected on the game winner with 15 seconds left as he drilled a contested 3-pointer from the right side of the top of the circle to put the Sycamores ahead 57-56.
Green Bay called their final timeout with 6.7 seconds left and Alec Brown missed a jumper in which Carl Richard pulled down the defensive rebound and was fouled with just over one second remaining. A last second near full court heave fell harmlessly to the ground as ISU walked away with the win.
The Sycamores held a 34-32 lead at intermission, thanks to three free throws with 1:20 on the clock by sophomore RJ Mahurin.
Indiana State scored the first six points out of halftime, first on a jumper in the paint by Carl Richard for a 36-32 lead. Myles Walker hit a pair of free throws with 18:14 remaining for a 38-32 advantage and the lead stretched to a game-high eight on a short jumper from the right wing by freshman Justin Gant at the 17:16 mark.
Green Bay trailed 50-45 with 9:09 left after a lay-up by Walker, before the Phoenix hit three consecutive 3-pointers by Brennan Cougill and two in a row from Steve Baker for a 54-50 lead with 5:07 remaining.
Richard hit a jumper with 4:40 remaining to make it 54-52 before Terry Johnson laid the ball in with 2:32 remaining to go up 56-52. Green Bay would not score again in the game.
Steve McWhorter took a perfect bounce pass from Jake Odum with 1:58 remaining to cut the Green Bay lead down to 56-54, which set up Printy's game winner with 15 seconds to go.
Printy hit four 3-pointers in the game to up his career total to 163 which moved him into second place all-time on ISU's career list. He passed Eddie Bird's 161 3-pointers during the contest.
Mahurin scored all 10 of his points off the bench in the first half while Walker also hit double figures scoring with 10 points.
Overall, Indiana State converted 18-of-43 shots from the field (41.9 percent) and hit 6-of-15 treys (40 percent, with Printy going 4-of-7 from long range). The Sycamores held a 34-32 advantage in rebounds.
Odum was limited to just three points in the game but tied a season-best with seven assists while also recording three steals in 31 minutes of action.
Indiana State will now travel to Orlando, Fla., to participate in the 2011 Old Spice Classic. ISU opens play in the tournament on Thursday, November 24 when they take on Texas Tech. The game will tip-off at Noon (ET) and will be televised on ESPN2.
