LOGAN, Utah – Indiana State battled back from as many as 16 points down and won a lay-up from senior TJ Bell with two seconds remaining as the Sycamores escaped Utah State with the 62-61 victory in front of 7,064 fans. The win gave the Missouri Valley Conference a 5-4 lead after the first nine games of the MVC/Mountain West Conference Challenge.
 
ISU won for the second consecutive time to improve to 4-4 on the season while Utah State fell to 3-4. Of the Sycamores first eight games, six have either come down to the last possession or went to overtime. The Sycamores downed Utah State for the first time in school history. The only other meeting in the all-time series also came in Logan, Utah when the Aggies took a one-point victory over the Sycamores.
 
Brenton Scott led the team with 18 points as he hit four 3-pointers to move into fourth on the ISU career chart with 157 over his first 71 games. Van Scyoc scored 14 points for the fourth time this season and tied the game with a big four-point play in the final moments. Donovan Franklin scored eight points while Bell's only field goal of the game was the game winner with two seconds remaining.
 
The Sycamores overcame a slow shooting start (8-of-30 for 26.7 percent in the first half) to finish the game with a 37.7 mark from the field. The Sycamores hit 11 3-pointers in the game, including two in a row by Scott down the stretch. Utah State held a 42-39 advantage on the boards but it was the Sycamores with a 7-4 lead in second chance points. Indiana State shared the ball well as they had 17 assists on 23 made field goals, including a game-high eight assists from Clemons.
 
Indiana State made it a 12-0 run in the second half when Van Scyoc hit his second 3-pointer after the break to draw within 39-37 with 13:06 left to go in the game. Utah State hit a 3-pointer to end the Sycamore run and their nearly seven minute drought to restore a 42-37 lead. Brenton Scott answered with his own 3-pointer at the 9:25 mark to once again draw within 42-40. After the Aggies missed the front end of a one-and-one, Scott tied things up at 42 with a left handed lay-up. Utah State's Julion Pearre scored his first points of the game with a 3-pointer at the 8:03 mark as Utah State regained the lead at 45-42.
 
The Aggie missed a pair of free throw attempts late, but Donovan Franklin converted both of his at the 7:19 mark and the Utah State lead was down to 47-44. The two teams then traded baskets as Van Scyoc became the first Sycamore to reach double figure scoring with a hook shot as the clock ticked under the six minute mark and the Utah State lead was down to 47-46. Jalen Moore hit a 3-pointer at the 5:13 mark as the Aggies stretched their lead out to 50-46. Scott then hit a two 3-pointers as Utah State hit two inside the arch as his fourth of the game at the 3:31 mark got the Aggie lead down to 54-52.
 
Scott hit a tough jumper with 2:29 on the clock to answer a score from the Aggies as the Utah State lead was trimmed down to 56-54. After the Aggies hit a pair at the free throw line, Van Scyoc hit a 3-pointer with 2:07 to go and made it a four-point play after the foul to knot the game at 58. The Aggie took a one-point lead at 59-58 but Scott laid it in on the next trip down the floor for the 60-59 lead with 1:40 remaining. The Sycamores got a coveted defensive stop on a big rebound from Bell and called a timeout. The Sycamores came up empty twice but also got another stop on a Paige defensive rebound as they held a 60-59 lead with 19.7 seconds left while Utah State had the ball. Indiana State was whistled for a foul to send Shane Rector to the charity stripe after ISU called their final timeout. Rector hit both of the free throws with 9.8 seconds to go as the Aggies took a 61-60 lead, setting up another game in which the Sycamores had the ball for the final possession.
 
Brenton Scott drove the length of the floor and lost control of the ball after getting into traffic. Clemons picked up the loose ball and made a bounce pass across the lane to a wide open TJ Bell who hit the game-winning buzzer beater with two seconds left. ISU got back on defense and Utah State's last gasp at the end of the clock fell short for the 62-61 lead.
 
Laquarious Paige scored first in the contest with a jumper before Donovan Franklin checked into the game at the 16:26 mark of the first half and knocked down a 3-pointer which tied the contest at six. The Aggies scored nine points in a row to run their lead out to 15-6 before Franklin ended the drought with his second triple of the opening half to get the Sycamores within 15-9 at the 13:15 mark. Utah State ran its lead out to 23-9 before Scott connected on his first 3-pointer of the game with 8:34 remaining to get the Sycamores within 11 points and to answer an 8-0 USU run.
 
Jordan Barnes made it four 3-pointers out of their first five made baskets when he connected from long range in transition at the 6:08 mark to get within 26-15. The Aggies scored the next five, but Matt Van Scyoc hit a runner in the paint with 2:34 on the clock to get ISU within 31-17. Clemons made a nifty move in a drive down the baseline with just over one minute remaining to trim the deficit down to 14 points. After an Aggie turnover, Emondre Rickman scored inside to get within 33-21. They had a final look at the basket, but were not able to connect as Utah State led 35-21 at the half. Donovan Franklin led the way for the Sycamores with six points as ISU was limited to just 6-of-27 shooting (22.2 percent).
 
The Sycamores made a couple adjustments to the second half starting lineup and went to one of the newbies on the first possession as Rickman scored inside to trim the Utah State lead down to 35-23. The Sycamores answered an Aggie bucket with a Paige driving lay-up with just under 18 minutes remaining to draw within 37-25. Clemons tipped a pass and the ball then bounced between the two teams wildly until he got the pay-off at the 17:03 mark to convert the conventional 3-point play and further trimmed the USU advantage down to 39-28. Barnes hit his second 3-pointer of the game at the 15:45 mark to get within single digits at 39-31. Matt Van Scyoc then hit a big 3-pointer at the 14:45 mark and the 9-0 run by the Sycamores trimmed the Utah State lead down to 39-34.
 
Shane Rector led Utah State with 14 points.
 
Indiana State returns home on Wednesday, December 7 to take on nationally-ranked Butler inside Hulman Center. Tip-off is set for 7 pm (ET).