Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- A trio of Indiana State Sycamores achieved new career highs in scoring, paced by 23 points from Justin Gant, in grabbing an 80-69 victory over Truman State in front of 4,419 fans inside Hulman Center.
The Sycamores improved to 3-1 on the season while Truman State's official record remains at 2-0 as this contest counts as one of their exhibitions.
Gant scored 23 points as he hit 8-of-10 shots from the field, including a mark of 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. He was 5-of-6 from the free throw line with two rebounds, one assist and three blocked shots. Also reaching a new career-high was Devonte Brown as he scored 13 points, hitting 5-of-8 shots from the floor to go with seven rebounds and five rebounds off the bench. Demetrius Moore also tallied a career-high with 10 points while Manny Arop added 10 as well.
For the fourth consecutive contest the Sycamores reached the 80-point mark. This is the first time since a five-game stretch in 1984 that the Sycamores have reached 80 points on the scoreboard for at least four games.
ISU did it by hitting 28-of-52 shots from the field (53.8 percent) and were 6-of-10 from 3-point range (60 percent). Truman State also shot well as they hit 25-of-45 shots from the field (55.6 percent) and were 8-of-17 from 3-point land (47.1 percent). The Sycamores owned a 32-19 edge in rebounding as well as a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint. ISU forced 13 turnovers and turned them into 22 points. Indiana State scored 11 fast-break points and did not surrender any to the Bulldogs.
The Sycamores started fast, scoring on the first shot of the contest by Gant, a 3-pointer and then Odum made a lay-up for a quick 5-0 advantage. with the contest tied at 7, Gant hit a lay-up, but Mike Carlson drilled a 3-pointer to briefly put the Bulldogs ahead before Odum answered with a triple of his own for a 12-10 ISU lead with 15:02 on the clock.
Truman State would lead by as many as five points in the first half, before Gant stopped the bleeding with a lay-up off the assist from Lucas Eitel with 11:48 on the clock to get within 18-15. After Carlson hit 1-of-2 free throws, ISU would score each of the next eight points, capped by a lay-up from Brown for a 23-19 lead with 9:59 on the clock. After a 3-pointer by Andrew Vander Zwaag, ISU scored each of the next nine points, including a the second trey of the half by Odum for a 32-22 lead with 7:48 left at the break.
The Sycamores owned a 39-29 advantage in the final two minutes, but Gant connected on a 3-pointer off the feed from Eitel for a 42-29 advantage and Carlson hit a lay-up with 30 seconds remaining to send the two teams in the locker room with the Sycamores ahead 42-31.
Gant put in a dunk on the Sycamores first possession of the second half to stretch the lead out to 44-31, but Truman whittled the ISU advantage all the way down to 46-41 on a conventional 3-point play by Marek Bush with 17 minutes on the clock. The Sycamores answered with a lay-up by Khristian Smith, followed by a trey of his own to run the lead out to 51-43 one minute later.
Truman State would not go away as they scored the game's next six points to get within 51-49 at the 13:40 mark, by Moore answered the call with a conventional 3-point play of his own to get back to a 54-49 cushion with 13:21 remaining. After a Vander Swaag triple got Truman to within 54-52, the Sycamores scored four in a row to take a 58-52 advantage.
The key run of the second half came with ISU leading 70-64 as they scored nine in a row, inclduing a lay-up by Moore with 2:23 on the clock for a 79-64 lead. TJ Bell hit a free throw with 51 seconds remaining to reach the 80-point mark and give the Sycamores an 80-69 victory.
Carlson paced the Bulldogs with 20 points, as he was one of three players from Truman State to reach double figures scoring.
Indiana State returns to action on Wednesday, November 27 when they take on Tulsa in the opening round of the Great Alaskan Shootout. Tip-off is slated for 11:30 p.m. (ET) and will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports.
