Blaine Kinsey
GoSycamores.com
Terre Haute, Ind.— Despite trailing at halftime for the first time all season, senior center Myles Walker led ISU with a career high 20 points to defeat the Saints of Maryville by a final score of 68-57 in front of 4,929 people at Hulman Center.
Indiana State got on the board first with a layup from Walker before the Saints knocked down their first of seven first half 3-pointers to take a 3-0 lead. The Sycamores got some offense going early jumping out to a 17-10 lead with 11:36 remaining in the first half.
The Saints sharpshooting from the outside kept the Sycamores off balance and Maryville went on a 25-5 run to take a 35-22 lead over the Sycamores with just 4:45 remaining in the game.
Indiana State battled back, ending the half on a 14-2 run of their own to cut their deficit to just one at halftime at 37-36.
Maryville shot 65% from the floor in the first half and an astounding 78% off 7-9 shooting from 3-point range.
The Sycamores picked up their defensive intensity coming out of the locker room and retook the lead at 44-41 with just over 15 minutes left to go in the game. The Saints battled back and retook their final lead of the game at 45-44 with 14:42 to go, however, senior forward Carl Richard knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Sycamores a 47-45 lead; one the would not give up the rest of the game.
Indiana State continued to stretch out its lead over the remainder of the game en route to a 68-57 win over the Saints.
Walker led all scorers with 20 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Dwayne Lathan and sophomore guard Jake Odum also finished in double figures for ISU. Lathan ended with 13 points, four steals and three rebounds while Odum had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
As a team the Sycamores shot 47 percent from the floor and are 20-0 when holding teams under 60 points in the Greg Lansing era.
The Sycamores improve to 7-2 on the season and will next hit the hardwood on Saturday when they travel to face nationally ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn.
