CHICAGO -- Indiana State and Loyola was bound to be a battle down to the wire as the two programs own the two best non-conference road wins of the season for the MVC. The game lived up to the hype and it was the Sycamores who became the first opponent this season to walk out of Gentile Arena a winner with a thrilling 61-57 victory over Loyola.

The Sycamores snapped a two-game skid in the Windy City to improve to 7-8, 2-1 MVC while Loyola fell to 11-4, 1-2 MVC. Indiana State picked up a road win at Big Ten foe Indiana to open the season while Loyola owns a road win at then No. 5 nationally-ranked Florida. 

Senior Brenton Scott provided the heroics with a key late-game banked in jumper and led the Sycamores with 16 points. Brandon Murphy went into double figures scoring for the second consecutive game while Jordan Barnes added 10. Scott led the team with nine rebounds. Indiana State dominated in the paint 36-18 and converted 17 Loyola turnovers into 17 points.

The key stat of the game was that the Sycamore defense allowed no Loyola field goal for the last 7:31 of the game despite the fact that Loyola hit nearly 50 percent of their shots from the field after the break.

The Ramblers led by three points until Barnes found Murphy open on the baseline for a dunk and the foul with 1:43 to go. He added the charity toss to knot the game at 57. The Sycamores put together another defensive stop and after the ISU timeout, Scott laid the ball in with just over a minute remaining for the 59-57 lead. Loyola's Aundre Jackson missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Indiana State the ball with the lead. The clock wound down inside of 10 seconds, the shot clock went all the way to zero but not before Scott bounced a shot perfectly off the glass and through the bottom of the net for the 61-57 lead. Loyola would not score as Murphy grabbed the final rebound and the Sycamores grabbed their first road win of conference play.

Jordan Barnes got on the board first for the Sycamores answering a Loyola 3-pointer on their second possession of the game. Barnes began a 7-0 run for the Sycamores as they took a 7-3 advantage on a Brenton Scott driving lay-up at the 15:58 mark. There was a wild exchange out of a timeout when Loyola made an unforced mistake to turn the ball over then ISU turned it over under their own basket, leading to a Loyola runout and missed dunk which Scott grabbed and fired ahead to Barnes for an open 3-pointer with 14:15 left in the first half. After a 5-0 run tied the game for Loyola, Tyreke Key was open in the left corner for a 3-pointer with just under 12 minutes remaining to stake ISU to the 15-12 advantage.

Indiana State would take a 19-14 lead with 8:56 left before the half when Scott found Murphy alone in the paint for a dunk on a second chance scoring opportunity. The Sycamores would get a 3-pointer from Barnes and putbacks from Murphy and Hughes as they went on an 11-0 run to take a 30-15 advantage, holding the Ramblers without a point for over three minutes as Loyola called their second first half timeout with four and half minutes to go before the half. Demonte Ojinnaka got into the 3-point parade with a trifecta with 2:49 on the clock for a 33-17 cushion.

Loyola would score the final eight points of the first half, but the Sycamore defense went zone on the Ramblers final possession to force a stop and Indiana State led 33-25. Jordan Barnes paced the Sycamores with eight points while Murphy added seven. ISU hit 14-of-27 shots from the field (51.9 percent), including four 3-pointers and limited the Ramblers to just 9-of-24 (37.5 percent).

The Ramblers would make it a 10-0 run wrapped around the half until Hughes made a hustle play with an offensive rebound and lay-up at the 18:15 mark to restore a 35-27 lead. After a 3-pointer from Donte Ingram drew Loyola within five points with 16:40 on the clock, the Sycamores called a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Sycamores suffered a turnover, but Hughes made another big hustle play with a block of Ben Richardson on the Loyola run out and Scott came back down with a conventional 3-point play for the 40-32 cushion. A 3-pointer from Loyola's Ingram got them within five points, but Scott answered with a trifecta at the 15:42 mark to restore a 43-35 lead.

Indiana State would surrender eight in a row to take their first lead since early in the game at 44-43. Barnes answered the call as the clock ticked under the 13 minute mark with a driving lay-up to push ISU back ahead 45-44. Loyola would take a six point lead as they made six straight shots until Murphy hit a hook shot in the lane at the 8:53 mark to cut the Rambler lead down to 53-49. Then Hughes made another big play as he drove the lane line to score with the foul to make it four points in a row to draw ISU within a possession. After the media timeout, Hughes connected on the free throw and the Rambler lead shrunk to 53-52.

The Sycamores begin a two-game Missouri Valley Conference homestand on Saturday, January 6 at 2 pm (ET) against Drake inside Hulman Center. The first 1,000 fans at the game will receive a special gift from Refreshment Services Pepsi of Terre Haute.