Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Indiana State earned a 77-73 road victory over Drake to improve to 3-0 in MVC play inside the Knapp Center in front of 3,465 fans.
ISU improved to 12-3, 3-0 MVC while Drake fell to 10-5, 1-2 MVC. The Sycamores are 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign and have won their first two road league games for the first time since 1978-79.
Manny Arop led the way for the Sycamores with 16 points as he hit a pair of 3-pointers while Jake Odum added 15. Dawon Cummings hit a big 3-pointer late in the game to finish with 13 points and Khristian Smith keyed a late stretch and finished with 12 points.
Odum is now third all-time at Indiana State in career steals with 522. He passed Jimmy Smith for third all-time.
Jake Odum scored eight of the first 10 Sycamores points in the game and his final points of that stretch were a steal and lay-up with 15:24 on the clock to push the Sycamores ahead 10-9. He followed that up with another steal 20 seconds later and found Khristian Smith open for a fast break lay-up to give Indiana State a 12-9 advantage and forced Drake to burn a timeout.
A pair of Jordan Daniels free throws with 8:51 on the clock staked Drake to a 22-20 lead, but the Sycamores answered with a 10-0 run which began with a 3-pointer from Dawon Cummings to push the Sycamores ahead 23-22. Burnett hit a pair of free throws and then Odum drained a triple at the 6:31 mark to make it 28-22. After Gant made a jumper with 5:22 on the clock to cap the run the Sycamores owned a 30-22 cushion.
A pair of Brandon Burnett free throws with 42 seconds remaining in the opening half staked the Sycamores to a 40-28 lead -- its largest of the first half. Daniels made a driving lay-up with 26 seconds remaining to get the Bulldogs within 40-30 at the half. Odum tried a runner at the buzzer but it was long. Odum paced the Sycamores with 11 pts in the opening stanza.
Demetrius Moore would score first in the second half to run the Sycamore lead out to 42-30 on an inside lay-up. Arop then drilled a 3-pointer at the top of the key at the 16:46 mark to run the lead back out to 45-35. After Drake closed within five points, Arop answered with a second-chance field goal for a 47-40 cushion with just over 15 minutes left.
The overall run was 13-2 as the Drake Bulldogs were able to take a 48-47 lead with 12 minutes remaining on a conventional 3-point play by Seth Van Deest and forced the Sycamores to take a timeout. Dawon Cummings restored order with an open 3-pointer at the 11:33 mark to take a 50-48 lead.
Drake regained control on three consecutive field goals for a 54-50 lead, before Lucas Eitel drained a 3-pointer with 8:45 remaining to get the Sycamores within a point. Khristian Smith made it a 5-0 run on a lay-up as the Sycamores took control at 55-54. Smith answered a basket by Drake's Carter with 7:30 remaining and the see-sawing continued with Indiana State up 57-56. Van Deest then scored and Smith continued his second half scoring spurt with a driving lay-up with just over six minutes remaining and Indiana State led 59-58.
After Drake tied it at the free throw line, Arop drained a 3-pointer with 4:52 remaining to put the Sycamores ahead 62-59. The Bulldogs hit 1-of-2 at the free throw line and Odum drove in for a lay-up to answer as the clock ticked under four minutes remaining for a 64-60 lead.
Drake would score, but Khristian Smith answered with a jumper in the paint with 2:10 remaining for a 66-62 advantage. The lead would grow to 68-62 on a long jumper just inside the arch by Arop at the 1:41 mark. Dawon Cummings answered with a 3-pointer with just under a minute later as Drake kept making it to the charity stripe by the Sycamores led 71-63.
Carter answered for the Bulldogs with a 3-pointer to cut the Sycamore lead down to 71-66 with 41.9 seconds left. Arop was then fouled with 27.1 seconds on the clock and he hit both free throws to give the Sycamores a 73-66 lead. After a Drake field goal, Arop hit two more free throws for a 75-68 lead with 17 seconds on the clock.
Indiana State will return home to face Bradley on Saturday, January 11 inside Hulman Center. Tip-off is set for 1:05 p.m. (ET).
