Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- A career-high in points and rebounds netted senior Jake Kitchell his first career double-double as Indiana State held on late for a 61-57 victory over visiting Austin Peay as part of the 2014 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.
The Sycamores won their second straight to advance to 3-1 while Austin Peay fell to 1-4. So far, Indiana State has defeated both the Governors and Brown to head to Vegas with a perfect 2-0 mark in the LVI. The Sycamores are at least 3-1 for the fourth consecutive season and are now 9-5 in multi-team events with their current winning streak now at four.
Kitchell recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds in posting first career double-double. Both are career highs as he went 3-of-5 from the field with one 3-pointer and four free throws. He added one assist, two blocked shots and one steal in the win. The Sycamores were led in scoring by Tre' Bennett who scored 14 points while Justin Gant added 12.
Indiana State owned a 39-35 edge in rebounding while shooting 39 percent (16-of-41) from the field. The Sycamore defense limited Austin Peay to 22-of-63 shooting (34.9 percent). Indiana State made 26-of-37 free throw attempts in the contest.
The Sycamores improved to 56-4 under fifth-year head coach Greg Lansing when holding a team to 63 points or less.
Jake Kitchell opened the scoring on the Sycamores' first possession of the game with an offensive rebound which led to a pair of free throws. Kitchell made it a personal 5-0 run with a conventional 3-point play at the 17:39 mark as the Sycamores would score the game's first seven points after a long jumper from Khristian Smith on the next possession. At that point, Austin Peay called their first timeout.
Consecutive field goals from Justin Gant followed by a charity toss out of a media timeout from Devonte Brown stretched the lead out to 12-3. Austin Peay would go on to score 10 of the game's next 12 points to cut the Sycamore advantage down to 14-13 with 9:40 left in the first half. The Governors' run ended when Gant drilled an open triple off the feed from Tre' Bennett to establish a 17-13 cushion. Four minutes later the long run continued with the first collegiate field goal by Grant Prusator on a 3-pointer for the 20-13 lead.
A 3-pointer from Austin Peay's Zavion Williams with 42 seconds on the clock pushed the Governors ahead 23-22 before a Prusator free throw and Bennett layup gave the Sycamores a 25-23 cushion. A lay-up from Kahlil Davis beat the buzzer to knot the game at 25 heading into the half.
APSU would score the first three points after the half to take a 28-25 lead before Khristian Smith's jumper just inside the arc at the 16:46 mark got the Sycamores within a point. The Governors answered with four poitns in a row to take a 32-27 lead before Gant had the answer with a conventional 3-point play with 15:53 on the clock to make it 32-30.
Trailing by four points, Scott found Kitchell wide open for a 3-pointer at the 13:13 mark which got ISU within 36-35. As the clock ticked down towards 12 minutes, Murphy was fouled inside and hit both free throws as the Sycamores regained the lead at 37-36. A deep 3-pointer by Austin Peay was answered by a pair of Bennett free throws as the game was tied at 39 at the 10:14 mark.
A conventional 3-point play by Ed Dyson pushed the Governors ahead 42-39 before Kitchell hit 1-of-2 charity tosses in response to get the Sycamores within a pair. A driving lay-up put Indiana State within a point, but Austin Peay countered with four points in a row to take a 48-43 lead.
Kitchell earned his first career double-double on his 12th rebound and 11th point with 4:05 remaining as the Sycamores scored five points in a row to knot the score at 48 with 4:05 remaining. Kitchell's hustle play forced the Governors to burn a timeout. After Gant got a stop with a defensive rebound, Brown drove the lane with 3:40 on clock to stake the Sycamores to a 50-48 advantage. Smith then grabbed a steal on defense and hit a free throw to stretch the lead out to 51-48.
APSU then posted four points in a row including a Dyson jumper with 1:38 remaining as the Governors went ahead 52-51. With 1:24 to go Bennett gave up an open 3-pointer to drive to the basket before he was fouled. He hit both free throws as ISU went ahead 53-52. He would hit two moe with 51.3 seconds remaining to put ISU ahead 55-52.
The Hulman Center crowd came to its feet as Kitchell grabbed a steal before Brown hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining to pad the cushion at 57-52.
A jumper by Chris Horton was good for APSU with 15 seconds remaining, but Bennett answered with two free throws two seconds later as the Sycamores earned the 61-57 victory.
Indiana State returns to action on Thursday, November 27 when they travel to the Orleans Arena to take on Illinois in the neutral site portion of the Las Vegas Invitational. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. (ET).
