BIMINI, Bahamas – It was a historic evening for Indiana State as they played in their first-ever regular season game on foreign soil and Duquesne surged ahead late in the game to down the Sycamores by the score of 74-71. The 2019 Junkanoo Jam is being played at the Gateway Christian Academy on the Northside of the Bahamian island of Bimini.
ISU fell to 0-4 on the season while Duquesne improved to a perfect 4-0.
Tyreke Key paced the Sycamores with 21 points as he hit 7-of-13 shots from the field. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. It marked the fifth time in the last six games in which he has scored 20 or more points. Freshman Jake LaRavia battled foul trouble throughout to score a career-high 18 points in an efficient outing that saw him hit 7-of-9 from the field. Bronson Kessinger battled off the bench to score eight points while Jordan Barnes also added eight.
The Sycamores were out rebounded in the game by a 31-28 margin but held a 14-7 advantage in second chance points. The Sycamores hit 25-of-53 shots from the field (47.2 percent) while limiting Duquesne to a 39.2 shooting percentage.
After Duquesne made it a one-point contest with just over three minutes remaining, LaRavia continued his big game with a hook shot in the paint to push the Sycamores ahead 65-62. He hit a pair of free throws to give the Sycamores a four point lead with just over two minutes remaining. Key would counter with two free throws of his own to push him over the 20-point mark before Baylee Steele made it four 3-pointers in the contest to shrink the Sycamore advantage down to 69-68.
Barnes would hit a pair at the free throw line with 1:26 to go which gave the Sycamores a 71-68 cushion. But Duquesne countered with three charity tosses in a row to knot the game up at 71 with 17.8 seconds to go. The Sycamores called a timeout to attempt to ice Ashton Miller at the free throw line but he connected to push Duquesne ahead by a point. Key would miss a runner in the waning seconds and after Duquesne hit a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to give them a 3-point lead, Barnes missed a trey at the buzzer to allow the Dukes to win 74-71.
The Sycamores took their six point halftime advantage and turned into a double digit lead with a LaRavia charity toss as he reached double figures scoring and then a trifecta by Key to push the lead out to 43-33. Six in a row by Duquesne drew the Dukes within a point before LaRavia and Williams scored inside and then a Jordan Barnes steal and Key second chance bucket gave the Sycamores a 51-44 lead. LaRavia would hit a jumper with 10:33 remaining to extend the spurt to eight in a row and give ISU a nine point lead.
Duquesne answered with seven points in a row to make it a one-possession game before Key hit a hook shot in the lane just north of the eight minute mark to give the Sycamores a 55-51 lead. Once again Duquesne drew within two points, but Cam Bacote drove strong to the rim with just under seven minutes remaining to push the Sycamores ahead 58-54.
Cooper Neese hit his second 3-pointer of the game with 5:52 to go to stake the Sycamores to a 61-56 lead.
Key scored first for the Sycamores less than two minutes into the contest to give Indiana State an early 2-1 lead but Duquesne right down with a Baylee Steele lay-up to push the Duke back in front by a point. Indiana State locked down on defense and scored the next 13, including a pair of lay-ups by the freshman LaRavia and a 3-pointer from Cooper Neese. Bronson Kessinger capped the run with back-to-back lay-ups around the 13 minute mark to give ISU a 15-3 advantage.
Duquesne ended a five minute scoring drought with a Steele 3-pointer with 12:36 on the clock to begin an 8-0 run for the Dukes, before LaRavia's driving lay-up with 10:02 remaining gave the Sycamores a 17-11 cushion. LaRavia would make sure this game was a career-high for him with a lay-up at the 8:28 mark and Indiana State led 25-16.
The Sycamores would miss their next six shots while Duquesne went on a 5:25 long 17-0 run which ended with consecutive trifectas by Steele and they led 33-25 with just 3:16 on the clock.
Indiana State recovered by scoring 13 of the final 14 points of the half on a run which began with a Jordan Barnes jumper at the 3:03 mark and continued with consecutive scores by Key and Kessinger before a 3-pointer by Key with 1:54 to go gave the Sycamores a 34-33 lead.
Christopher Agbo hit a pair of free throws with 42 seconds to go and Key ended the half with a driving lay-up as the seconds ticked away and the Sycamores led 39-33 at the break.
Baylee Steele led the Dukes with 20 points as he hit four 3-pointers in the game.
Indiana State returns to action on Friday, November 22 when they take on Loyola Marymount. The Lions earned a convincing 78-64 win over Air Force in the Junkanoo Jam opener. Tip-off against the Lions is set for 4:00 p.m. (ET) and will be televised live on FloHoops.com.
