PEORIA, Ill. -- Down 11 points at the half, the Sycamores scored 14 of the first 15 points after halftime and held Bradley without a field goal for over 10 minutes of second half en route to a 56-54 road MVC victory inside Carver Arena.

Indiana State improved to 9-16 and 3-10 in the MVC while Bradley fell to 9-17, 4-9 MVC. The victory broke a string of 13 consecutive road losses in conference play for the Sycamores as it was the first league road victory for the program since January 6, 2016 at Drake. Overall, it was the first road win for the Sycamores since a thriller on December 3, 2016 at Utah State.

The Sycamores improved to 78-9 under seventh-year head coach Greg Lansing when holding a team to 63 points or fewer. It was Indiana State's fourth such victory this season. Additionally, it was coach Lansing's 118th career victory -- just two shy of reaching Indiana State's all-time Top 5.

Tied at 51 with 2:47 left in regulation, Donte Thomas went to the free throw line after the final media timeout and hit 1-of-2 as the Braves went ahead 52-51. Two more Thomas free throws staked the Braves to a 54-51 lead before Van Scyoc connected on a corner 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining to knot the contest at 54. After a defensive stop, the Sycamores called timeout and Brenton Scott found Rickman inside where his jumper in the paint staked the Sycamores to a 56-54 lead with 30 seconds to go. Bradley got on an inside look and then a long rebound that went all the way back towards the Indiana State basket was corralled by the Braves. A half court heave at the buzzer bounced harmlessly off the backboard and the Sycamores walked out of the building with a 56-54 victory.

Rickman was solid defensively as he set a new career high with five blocked shots. He added six points and five rebounds, including the game-winning bucket with just under 30 seconds remaining. Matt Van Scyoc led the way with 19 points as he hit five 3-pointers while Brenton Scott hit a pair from long range and scored 11. 

The Sycamores escaped with the victory despite committing 22 turnovers but were able to connect on 45.2 percent of their shots. Defense was the name of the game for the Sycamores in the second half as they held Bradley to just 16 points despite the Braves making 18 trips to the free throw line after the break. For the game, Bradley hit just 17-of-55 shots (30.9 percent). The Braves hit just 14-of-28 attempts from the free throw line for the game and held a slight 39-38 edge on the glass.

Everett Clemons once again had a solid all-around game with eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

The Braves scored the first eight points of the game until an Everett Clemons runner with just over 17 minutes on the clock opened the scoring for the Sycamores. Bradley went on to score the game's next five as they took a 13-2 lead at the 15:57 mark on a Darrell Brown jumper which forced Indiana State to use its first timeout. Out of the break, Brenton Scott drained a jumper from the right wing to draw within nine points. 

Then Matt Van Scyoc drained a 3-pointer and Scott tallied a jumper with 14:16 on the clock as the Bradley lead was down to 15-9. The Indiana State defense was able to hold the Braves without a point for over five minutes but were held scoreless themselves until Van Scyoc drained a 3-pointer at the 9:53 mark to get within 17-12. Bradley would go on to score six of the next eight points as they took a 23-14 lead into the under eight minute timeout. TJ Bell hit 1-of-2 free throws on other side of that media timeout to get within 23-15 of the Braves.

A great move to the basket from Jordan Barnes at the 5:20 mark gave him a lay-up and the conventional 3-point play as the Braves lead shrunk to 27-18. Defensively, Trey Knight III forced a bad Bradley shot and then took the ball all the way for a lay-up and the Braves lead was down to 27-20. Donovan Franklin hit a 3-pointer with just over three minutes to go and then after getting a long rebound he went coast-to-coast with a lay-up on the break to make it a 10-0 run for the Sycamores and Bradley's edge was down to just 27-25 with 2:55 on the clock.

Bradley countered with the next six, before Van Sycoc hit a pair of free throws but the Braves hit a 3-pointer to run their lead back out to 36-27. A breakaway dunk with 20 seconds to go ran their lead back out to 11. That is where it would stay as the Braves took a 38-27 lead into the half. Van Sycoc led the way with 10 points at the break. 

The Sycamores scored first in the second half after recording a defensive stop, Scott drained his first 3-pointer of the game and then a Clemons free throw with 18:57 remaining trimmed the Bradley lead down to 38-31. Indiana State made it a 7-0 run to start the second period as Scott buried another trifecta and the Sycamores found themselves down just 38-34. After Bradley converted a free throw, Scott got a steal and Clemons hit a pair of free throws to draw the deficit down to just three points. Van Scyoc's 3-pointer with just over 16 minutes on the clock made it 12 of the first 13 points in the second half and he tied the game at 39.

With 14 minutes on the clock, Rickman hit a jumper in the paint as the run grew to 14-1 after the half and the Sycamores took their first lead of the game at 41-39. The Braves and Sycamores traded made free throws and the Indiana State lead was 42-40 with 12:25 remaining. Bradley's first field goal of the second half came with 9:42 left in the game and they took a 45-42 lead in the process. Van Scyoc momentarily tied the contest with a triple until Bradley's Nate Kennell hit one as well. 

After a defensive stop, Clemons hit 1-of-2 free throws with 7:31 remaining to cut the Bradley edge down to 48-46. The Sycamores got within a pair and Rickman converted an open lay-up with 5:28 on the clock which knotted the score at 49. After an illegal screen was whistled on the Braves, Clemons drove the lane to give Indiana State a brief 51-49 advantage.

Donte Thomas led the way for Indiana State with 13 points.

Indiana State returns home to face off against Drake on Saturday, February 11 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) inside Hulman Center. It is Alumni Weekend inside Hulman Center as we welcome back former players and managers to campus.