Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
PEORIA, Ill. -- Indiana State saw its three-game winning streak against Bradley come to and end with a 68-60 defeat to the Braves in front of 7,520 fans at Carver Arena.
ISU falls to 14-11, 5-9 MVC while Bradley improved to 7-19, 2-12 MVC.
The Sycamores were led in scoring by Dwayne Lathan with 16 points, while Odum added 15 and RJ Mahurin tallied 10. ISU was limited to just 32.8 percent shooting from the field (21-of-63).
Odum tallied 11 rebounds to go with his 15 points for his third double-double of the year and the fourth of his career.
Bradley's Jalen Crawford hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring in the second half and stretch the Braves' half lead of nine points out to 29-17 with 18:37 on the clock. Walker answered with a jumper in the paint to trim the lead down to 10 as the clocked ticked under 18 minutes to go and Lathan posted a free throws with 16:34 remaining as the Sycamores trailed 29-21.
The Sycamore run reached seven points in a row on a 3-pointer by Richard with 15:35 to go as the Braves cushion diminished down to just 29-24. Bradley ended with run with Crawford's second trey following halftime to make it 32-24. After an ISU miss, Crawford hit again from long range and the Sycamores found themselves down 35-24 as the clocked ticked down towards 13 minutes to go off the 6-0 Bradley spurt.
A foul by Bradley on Jake Odum with 10:08 remaining put the Sycamores into the bonus and he drilled both free throws to cut the Bradley lead down to just 37-28. Mahurin was fouled on the Sycamore's next trip as ISU hit four free throws in a row to make it 37-30.
The Braves grinded out a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to run its lead out to 46-30 with just over six minutes remaining. Dwayne Lathan drilled a long 3-point field goal with 6:05 remaining to cut the Braves lead down to 46-33 which was the Sycamore's first field goal since the 11:55 mark. Odum got a defensive rebound and posted a driving lay-up on the offensive end to cut Bradley's cushion down to 46-35 with 5:30 remaining.
ISU got within 10 points at 48-38 on a triple by Lucas Eitel as the clock ticked under five minutes to go. Eitel then grabbed a full court rebound and laid it up and in with 4:20 to go to shrink Bradley's lead down to 48-40 at the 4:28 mark.
Dwayne Lathan hit a trio of free throws and Odum drilled a 3-pointer as the clocked neared one minute remaining to cut the Bradley lead down to 60-54. Walt Lemon, Jr. hit a two free throws for Bradley and Odum hit a lay-up with exactly one minute left as ISU trailed 62-56.
After Bradley hit 1-of-2 free throws with just under a minute left, Mahurin pounded the ball into the lane with a driving lay-up as the Braves clung onto a 63-58 lead.
Both team's defenses controlled the first three minutes of the game until the Braves' Jake Eastman hit a 3-pointer at the 17-minute mark to stake Bradley to a 3-0 lead. The Braves scored the game's first five points until Jordan Printy connected on his 196th career trey 15:43 on the clock to cut Bradley's lead down to 5-3.
The Braves scored the game's next six points to run their lead out to 11-3 until Myles Walker stopped the bleeding with a jumper off the pass from Lucas Eitel to cut it down to 11-5 with 12:41 remaining before the break.
The Sycamores responded to the next Bradley score with six in a row of their own which trimmed the Bradley cushion down to just 13-11 at the 8:41 mark on a jumper by Dwayne Lathan. Jake Odum hit a running lay-up with 6:15 on the clock to push ISU within 17-15 and were held scoreless until Lathan tallied a jumper at the 2:24 mark to get within 22-17 of the Braves.
Neither team tallied a field goal the rest of the way, although Bradley was 4-of-4 at the free throw line and took a 26-17 lead into the half. Seven different Sycamores scored in the opening stanza, with Lathan leading the team with four points at the break.
Walt Lemon, Jr. paced the Braves with 26 points off the bench.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, February 11 when they host Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. (ET). The SIU game is the first leg of the Indiana State Basketball Three Game Fan Pack in which fans can attend the SIU and Illinois State (Feb. 14) games for just $5 each and will receive a ticket to the Creighton game for free!
