Ace Hunt

GoSycamores.com

CHICAGO -- Indiana State placed five players in double figures scoring but it was not enough to down the hot-shooting Loyola Ramblers as they downed Indiana State by the score of 104-96 in double overtime inside Gentile Arena.

The Sycamores fell to 12-10, 6-4 MVC while Loyola improved to 10-12, 3-7 MVC. 

Brenton Scott paced the Sycamores with 28 points -- his fifth 20-plus point scoring performance in 10 games of league play. Devonte Brown added 19 as the duo made it 10 MVC contests in a row in which they have reached double figures scoring. Matt Van Scyoc hit four 3-pointers to tally 16 while Khristian Smith added 14. Everett Clemons came off the bench to score a career-best 13 points.

Khristian Smith added six rebounds to give him 504 for his career. He is now the 17th player in the history of the program to record at least 1,000 career points scored as well as 500 rebounds. Additionally, Matt Van Scyoc topped the 1,000 career points scored mark when combined with his prior two seasons spent at The Citadel.

The Sycamores hit 32-of-66 shots from the field, including 11 3-pointers. Indiana State hit 16-of-23 attempts in the second half (69.6 percent) and did not allow a Loyola field goal from the 6:35 mark through the remainder of regulation and for all of the first overtime period until their were eight seconds left. That equated to nearly 11 and a half minutes of game time without a field by Loyola. The Ramblers finished the game 32-of-61 from the field (52.5 percent) and were 18-of-25 (72 percent) before halftime.

Loyola's 104 points scored marks the first time since January of 1997 that the Sycamores have allowed over 100 points in a game. The Sycamores' 96 points scored are the most since posting 97 against Alaska-Anchorage in November of 2013.

The Ramblers scored the first five points of the game until Khristian Smith grabbed an offensive rebound and tossed inside to Matt Van Scyoc at the 18:33 mark for the Sycamores' first score of the game. Brenton Scott's 3-pointer as the clock ticked under the 17 minute mark leveled the score at seven points each. After the Ramblers opened up a four point lead, Matt Van Scyoc and Brenton Scott connected on consecutive 3-pointers around a Loyola turnover the take a 13-11 lead with 13:31 left in the first half.

The Ramblers came back with six of their own in a row before Khristian Smith hit a floater in the paint at the 10:50 mark to get within 17-15. After a Loyola basket -- their fifth make in a row, Smith hit a 3-pointer with 10:12 remaining to draw within 19-18. Loyola would take a 26-20 lead before Van Scyoc hit his second 3-pointer of the first half and then Everett Clemons used an offensive rebound for a driving lay-up which cut the Rambler lead down to 26-25 with 7:25 left in the half.

Brenton Scott hit a pair of free throws and Devonte Brown's jumper with 6:03 remaining as the shot clock was set to expire knotted the score at 29. But the Ramblers connected on a trio of field goals in a row to spark a 7-0 run and give them a 36-29 advantage at the 3:21 mark which forced an Indiana State timeout. Loyola's run reached 11 in a row before Devonte Brown hit a driving lay-up at the 1:13 mark to draw the Sycamores within 40-31. A steal and 3-pointer in transition by Brenton Scott made it a 41-34 Rambler lead. Indiana State had one more look at the basket in the waning seconds thanks to a steal from Smith. Scott led the way for the Sycamores with 13 points as he hit a trio of shots from long distance.

Loyola would one point at the free throw line before Matt Van Scyoc hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half to trim a seven-point deficit down to just 44-41 with 18:10 on the clock. But Loyola scored seven in a row until Khristian Smith's lay-up cut their cushion down to 51-43 with 16:40 remaining. Scott hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game as he stroked another from long range to get within 53-46 at the 15:52 mark.

Clemons scored inside off the feed from Emondre Rickman and made it a conventional 3-point play with 14:49 to go as they got within 53-49 on the 6-0 scoring run. The Sycamores clawed back in as Clemons continued to assert himself on the offensive end with a floater in the paint to cut the Loyola lead down to 61-57 with 12:40 remaining. Scott reached the 20-point mark for the fifth time during conference play with he hit a pair of free throws with 6:52 remaining to cut the Loyola lead down to 71-64. 

Devonte Brown reached double figures scoring with a conventional 3-point play at the 4:44 mark which cut the Rambler lead down to 76-69. Coming out of the final media timeout of the game, Khristian Smith hit a trio of free throws with 3:53 on the clock to draw the Sycamores within 78-72. Brown's lay-up as the clock ticked towards the three minute mark made it 78-74 in favor of the Ramblers. After Doyle hit a pair of charity tosses, Brown's conventional 3-point play with 2:40 showing trimmed the Loyola advantage down to 80-77.

Another defensive stop and the Sycamore run continued as Khristian Smith scored with a floater in the paint to make it 80-79 with 1:46 on the clock. Yet again, the Sycamores got a stop as they forced a long Milton Doyle 3-point attempt which missed iron and resulted in a shot clock violation. The Sycamores went back to Smith in the paint who scored inside with 53 seconds remaining as ISU took an 81-80 lead. 

Montel James went to the free throw line and hit 1-of-2 free throws to knot the contest at 81 with 38 seconds remaining. The Sycamores then took a timeout. Loyola had a fastbreak as the seconds were winding down, but Khristian Smith made a great block to send the game to overtime. The Sycamore defense held Loyola without a field goal for the final 6:35 of regulation.

Brandon Murphy fought for an offensive rebound on the first possession of overtime and hit a free throw after he was fouled to push the Sycamores ahead 82-81. Each team traded points at the free throw line and the Sycamore defense recorded three stops in a row. Indiana State could not score on the first two trips which followed before Brenton Scott drilled a 3-pointer with 1:37 on the clock to put the Sycamores up 87-85.

Milton Doyle hit 1-of-2 free throws with 37 seconds remaining to knot the score at 87. Brown was then fouled on a step back jumper with 14.7 seconds remaining. Peterson hit a running jumper with eight seconds remaining to tie the game at 89 before Brown's long jumper at the buzzer was short to force double overtime.

Loyola scored the first four points of double overtime, but Clemons answered with a lay-up to trim the Rambler lead down to 93-91 with 2:57 on the clock. Brenton Scott trimmed a five-point Loyola lead down to just 96-94 with 50 seconds left in the second overtime as he drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing. 

Loyola was led in scoring by 28 points from Montel James while Devon Turk added 22.

Indiana State has a quick turnaround for their next game which will be inside the friendly confines of Hulman Center on Tuesday, February 2. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET).