Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Another Valley nailbiter. Another Sycamore hero. Another thrilling Sycamore win. This time is was junior guard Tre' Bennett who hit a lay-up with three seconds remaining to send Indiana State to a 71-70 overtime victory over Illinois State in front of 4,535 fans inside Hulman Center.
The Sycamores improved to 9-8, 5-0 MVC while the Redbirds fell to 10-7, 2-3 MVC. Indiana State won for the fifth time in a row and remained undefeated in Valley play through five games for just the fourth time in the history of the program. The Sycamores won their second overtime contest through the first five conference contests.
Tre' Bennett didn't lead the Sycamores in scoring but he scored the game winner and finished with 12 points. Brenton Scott reached double figures scoring for a team-leading 12th time this season and it was senior Jake Kitchell who paved the way with 15 points as he hit a pair of 3-pointers and also led the team with seven rebounds.
The Sycamores finished the game by hitting 18-of-47 shots (38.3 percent) which was just a tick better than the Redbird's 23-of-63 showing (36.5 percent). Indiana State hit eight 3-pointers, but did most of their damage at the free throw line. The Sycamores hit 27-of-33 charity tosses, led by seven each from Kitchell and Justin Gant. For the Redbirds, MiKyle McIntosh, Reggie Lynch and DeVaugh Akoon-Purcell all fouled out of the contest.
Tied at 62 heading into overtime, a free throw by Devonte Brown with 4:30 on the clock gave the Sycamores a one point lead. Daishon Knight answered with a lay-up to give the Redbirds a one-point cushion. A pair of charity tosses from Gant with 3:01 on the clock pushed the Sycamores ahead 65-64.
Will Ransom knotted the score at 65 before Khristian Smith's lay-up at the 1:41 mark gave the Sycamores a two-point cushion with 1:41 remaining. Knight countered with a lay-up to tie the score for the 12th time in the contest at 67. It was part of conventional 3-point play and the free throw gave the Redbirds a 68-67 edge with 41 seconds to go. Smith's one-handed runner with 29 seconds to go gave Indiana State a 69-68 lead, but Knight answered with a jumper of his own and the Redbirds were ahead by a point with 21 seconds to go.
Each team traded timeouts, and after the ball was loose momentarily on the inbounds, Smith gained possession and moved it around the circle. Smith found Gant for on the wing, and gave a bounce pass inside to Bennett. He then corralled the ball under the basket and hit a contested lay-up with three seconds to go to push Indiana State ahead 71-70. A last second half court heave hit the top left of the backboard and the Sycamores walked away with the overtime win.
It was also nip-and-tuck down the stretch of regulation as Knight hit a lay-up with 2:14 remaining to give the Redbirds a 60-57 advantage. Kitchell hit a free throw to get the Sycamores within two points and then came up with a defensive rebound and was fouled by Lynch with 47 seconds to go. Kitchell hit both charity tosses to knot the score at 60. Knight then hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds on the clock for a 62-60 lead. Smith was fouled with six seconds to go and hit both free throws to level the score at 62. Paris Lee tried a one-handed 3-pointer at the buzzer which missed short to send the game into the extra period.
The game was never seperated by more than three points when McIntosh hit a free throw at the 13:25 mark of the second half to put Illinois State up 39-36. Two Gant free throws got the Sycamores within a point before a pair of Bennett charity tosses with 12:38 remaining gave Indiana State a 40-39 cushion. Alex Etherington emerged off the bench with a jumper at the 12 minute mark and Scott added a lay-up with 10:23 to go as the Sycamores grounded out defensive stops and put together a nice run.
The 9-0 run was capped with a pair of Bennett free throws with 10:06 remaining to push the Sycamores ahead 46-39. After a pair of Lynch free tosses, Scott hit a pair before a Redbird turnover led to a quick Scott 3-pointer off the assist from Etherington with 8:23 to play and the Sycamores owned a 51-41 advantage.
Seven points in a row for the Redbirds cut the lead to 51-48 before Gant hit a free throw for the four point cushion with 6:05 on the clock. Akoon-Purcell hit a 3-pointer and then followed that with a lay-up and Bobby Hunter capped the run with a trey of his own with 4:15 to go and the Redbirds were ahead 56-52. Scott then tallied his own 3-point play at the 3:29 mark to give the Redbirds just a 56-55 lead.
The visitors scored first on a McIntosh lay-up just over a minute into the game, before Scott answered with a 3-pointer for the 3-2 lead. The two teams exchanged ties and small lead changes before Kitchell's trifecta at the 8:53 mark put Indiana State ahead 22-19.
A pair of Knight charity tosses gave the Redbirds a 28-25 lead, before TJ Bell hit two of his own at the 3:36 mark to get the Sycamores within a point. Hunter gave the Redbirds a 30-27 lead at the 2:28 mark but Bell countered with a jumper to draw the Sycamores within a point. Kitchell was sent to the free throw line and hit them both with 55 seconds left before the half to give Indiana State a 31-30 lead. Justin McCloud missed a 3-pointer and Knight could not connect on a jumper with four seconds remaining as the Sycamores led 31-30 at intermission. Kitchell paced the Sycamores with 10 points at the break.
Two Redbirds went into double figures scoring, including Daishon Knight with 21 points.
Indiana State now takes to the Valley road for their next two contests. It begins on Saturday, January 17 when they travel to Drake for a 3:05 p.m. (ET) tip-off in Des Moines.
