CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Indiana State and Northern Iowa went back-and-forth all afternoon long at the McLeod Center before the Panthers eventually pulled away for a 65-60 victory.

The Sycamores fell to 8-16, 2-10 MVC while UNI improved to 11-12, 6-6 MVC.

Brenton Scott led the way for the Sycamores with 16 points. Emondre Rickman came off the bench to notch a new career high with 12 points.

The Sycamores led by as many as nine points in the second half, but hit just 20-of-59 shots (33.9 perecnt) for the game. UNI connected on 20-of-45 (44.4 percent). Indiana State hit eight 3-pointers in the contest, led by four from Scott. Scott moved into 18th on the ISU all-time scoring list with 1,224 points. The Sycamores held a massive 43-29 edge in rebounding, paced by 12 from point guard Everett Clemons. Clemons finished the game with eight points and 12 boards.

Laquarious Paige did the bulk of the heavy lifting for the Indiana State offense over the first eight minutes as he played the first two segments of the game and led the team with eight points. He hit a pair of 3-pointers and then his driving lay-up at the 14:35 mark cut the Panther lead down to 10-8. The Sycamores then went with just a pair of free throws over the next five minutes as they stretched their lead out to 17-10. Bell stopped the dry spell with an inside move as the game neared the nine minute mark and UNI held a 17-12 advantage.

Northern Iowa ran their lead out to 23-12 before Everett Clemons began to show his might. He hit a pair of free throws and then recorded a second chance bucket  to get within seven points. Then Clemons recorded a steal and was fouled going to the bucket with 5:01 to go. He hit both charity tosses and his person 6-0 run trimmed the UNI lead down to 23-18. After the Panthers scored, Brenton Scott connected from long range at the 4:14 mark and the Panther lead was down to 25-21.

The run continued after another defensive stop when Jordan Barnes connected on a trifecta from the top of the key to make it 12 of the last 14 points and the Panthers edge was just 25-24. Emondre Rickman hit a jumper in the paint with 1:17 left in the opening half and the Sycamores took their first lead of the game at 26-25. Bennett Koch would go on to hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds on the clock and the Panthers took to the halftime locker room with a slim 27-26 advantage. Laquarious Paige led the way with eight points at the half as the Sycamores trailed by just one point despite hitting just 29.6 percent of their shots from the field.

The Sycamores got a defensive stop to begin the second half and Bell banked in a jumper on the first possession to retake a 28-27 lead. After UNI retook a one-point advantage, Scott buried a 3-pointer on the right wing with 18:01 on the clock as Indiana State went ahead 31-29. The Panthers countered with five points in a row as Klint Carlson hit a fade away jumper with 16:15 remaining and UNI took a 34-31 lead. Scott connected on his third 3-pointer of the game with 15:13 remaining to knot the contest at 34. Carlson hit 1-of-2 free throws before Rickman scored inside and the back-and-forth continued as the Sycamores swung ahead 36-35. 

A Bunschoten lay-up and then a charity toss from Rickman with 12:10 remaining staked the Sycamores to a 39-37 lead. Rickmman continued his solid second half with another jumper as the clock ticked towards the 11 minute mark and before it hit he got a blocked shot and then a dunk and foul with 11:04 to go. Rickman converted the conventional 3-point play and the Sycamores led 44-37. The 10-0 Indiana State run was capped on a reverse lay-up by Donovan Franklin and the Sycamores lead stood at 46-37. But the Panthers scored on consecutive possessions and cut into the Sycamores lead with five points in a row as Indiana State held a 46-42 advantage with 9:14 on the clock.

But Indiana State kept the Panthers right there after a big offensive rebound from Clemons as Scott buried a jumper with 7:15 remaining to stretch the lead out to 48-42. After the Panthers cut the Sycamore lead down to three points, Scott connected on a pair of charity tosses at the 6:20 mark for the 50-45 advantage. One against UNI got with a possession, but with 4:41 an offensive rebound for Clemons led to a pair of free throws and the 52-47 Sycamore lead.

Jeremy Morgan's 3-pointer in transition with 3:52 to go staked the Panthers to a 52-50 lead. The Sycamores came up empty after the final media timeout and Juwan McCloud hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 52. Jordan Barnes connected on a big 3-pointer at the 2:53 mark as ISU regained a 55-52 cushion. Morgan countered with a conventional 3-point play with 2:37 remaining which once again tied the contest at 55.

A missed 3-pointer and pair of free throws for the Panthers pushed them ahead 57-55. A big time put back on the offensive end by Rickman once again tied the contest at 57.  Brenton Scott hit a big 3-pointer with 15 seconds left but the Sycamores could not score again as UNi took the hard fought 65-60 victory.

Bennett Koch led the way for the Panthers with 14 points as five different players reached double figures scoring.

Indiana State stays on the road this Wednesday, February 8 at 9 p.m. (ET) when they travel to Bradley. The game will air live on the MVC TV Network as well as The Valley on ESPN3.