TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Nearly one half of Indiana State's games this season have come down to the final possession or went to overtime and tonight they experienced both as a last second defensive stand gave the Sycamores a much needed 85-84 overtime victory over visiting Evansville in front of 3,669 fans inside Hulman Center.

Indiana State improved to 8-15, 2-9 MVC while Evansville fell to 10-14, 1-10 MVC. The Sycamores have won six in a row over Evansville at home dating back to New Year's Day of 2011. It also was the 10th victory over Evansville for seventh-year head coach Greg Lansing, who earned career victory No. 117, which is only three behind John Longfellow (1948-54) for fifth place all-time at Indiana State.

Brenton Scott led the way with 22 points and now has 1,208 for his career as he moved past Hall of Fame member Bob Barker for 20th on the Sycamores' all-time list. Scott hit a trio of 3-pointers and added six assists. Everett Clemons, who is ranked in eight different statistical categories among all Missouri Valley Conference individuals, had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists with a pair of steals. Matt Van Scyoc contributed 12 points while TJ Bell and Jordan Barnes each posted 10. 

It was the sixth overtime game for the Sycamores this season and their 11th that either gone to extra time or been decided by one possession or less. The Missouri Valley Conference record for most overtimes in a season is seven and the NCAA record is eight. Missouri State has also gone to overtime six times this year, including when ISU and MSU met on New Year's Eve in Springfield.

The Sycamores held a narrow 30-26 edge in the paint while the Purple Aces converted 16 Sycamore turnovers into 19 points.

Evansville blazed the nets to a 63.6 percent (14-of-22) clip in the first half as they took a 42-32 lead at the break. But the Sycamores clamped down in the second half, holding the Purple Aces to just 12-of-32 shooting (37.5 percent) while ISU hit 12-of-21 attempts (57.1 percent). UE was just 1-of-4 in overtime while ISU hit 3-of-5 attempts.

A conventional 3-point play from Dru Smith gave Evansville a 79-76 lead in overtime. Two free throws from Brenton Scott cut the Evansville lead down to one point. A jumper from Bell with 2:36 on the clock pushed ISU ahead 81-80 before Jaylon Brown hit two charity tosses at the 1:30 mark as Evansville pushed ahead 82-81. Clemons would score with 41 seconds left for the one point cushion, but Brown hit two more free throws with 26 seconds to go as Evansville claimed a 84-83 advantage. Brenton Scott tallied a lay-up with 13 seconds left to give ISU an 85-84 lead. Evansville called timeout with eight seconds left to plan their attack. The Sycamores held and the buzzer sounded, but after a review it was determined that there should be 0.6 seconds on the clock underneath Evansville's basket. The Purple Aces got the ball in bounds and a tap at the basket at the final buzzer came close but rolled off the right side of the rim to give the Sycamores a thrilling 85-84 victory.

A 10-point halftime lead for Evansville spiked in the second half at 48-36 when Smith connected on a lay-up with 16:19 left in regulations. The Sycamores scored five in a row after a Ryan Taylor jumper to trim the Evansville lead down to 50-44 on a jumper from Barnes. Christian Benzon scored for the Aces but Niels Bunschoten came over the top with a 3-pointer to get within 52-47 with 11:25 to go. Scott's trifecta at the 10:50 mark got ISU within striking distance at 54-50. 

Another Taylor jumper with 8:12 to go put Evansville ahead 58-54 before Murphy put in a lay-up off the feed from Scott and then a trio of free throws from Barnes with 6:13 to go gave the Sycamores their first lead at 59-58. Evansville went ahead by two on a Brown 3-pointers, but Clemons tied the game at 61 on a driving lay-up. Matt Van Scyoc was also fouled on a 3-point attempt with 3:59 on the clock and hit all of his charity tosses to push ISU ahead 66-65.

Brown would hit two free throws to give Evansville a brief lead until Barnes converted a 3-pointer with 3:02 remaining and ISU was ahead 69-67. A pair of Scott free throws at the 1:20 mark gave ISU a 73-71 lead before Evansville went back ahead on a 3-pointer from Taylor with just over a minute to go. Bell scored down low off the assist from Barnes for a 75-74 advantage with 40 seconds remaining and added a free throw on the conventional 3-point play for the two-point lead. Brown hit a wild jumper in the paint with 25 seconds to go which knotted the game at 76. Scott had a decent look at the basket at the regulation buzzer but it was long and the two teams would enter overtime.

The Purple Aces controlled much of the first half as Duane Gibson hit a jumper just under a minute in before Scott's lay-up off the assist from Bell tied the game at two. Taylor converted a 3-pointer with 18:33 to to start a 7-0 run which gave Evansville a 9-2 lead early. The lead spiked at 11 points in the first half on a pair of Benzon free throws with 4:43 on the clock for a 33-22 lead. ISu answered with eight in a row off back-to-back 3-pointers from Scott and Van Scyoc as well as a lay-up by Kessinger to trim the Evansville lead down to 33-30. But seven in a row to close out the half gave the Sycamores a 42-32 halftime deficit that they would eventually overcome. Scott and Van Scyoc each had seven points at the end of the first half.

Jaylon Brown led the way for Evansville 25 points as he was 16-of-16 from the free throw line in the contest. That is the first time that an opponent has not missed a free throw attempt (with 10 or more free throws attempted) in the MVC era.

Indiana State hits the road to take on Northern Iowa this Saturday, February 4 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) in a game that will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.