SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  – Indiana State withstood a furious second half rally by Missouri State and hit their free throws down the stretch to earn a hard fought 78-68 victory over the Bears inside the JQH Arena.
 
The Sycamores improved to 13-8, 6-4 MVC as they won for the third time in a row. Missouri State fell to 10-13, 4-6 MVC.
 
It marks the third time this season that the Sycamores have ended a lengthy in conference skid – this time a seven-gamer against Missouri State. This was also the first win for the Sycamores in Springfield since 2012.
 
Jordan Barnes returned to his native state of Missouri and he entered the Indiana State all-time Top 10 in career scoring by posting 15 points. He now has 1,445 for his career which passes both Duane Klueh and Carl Nicks for ninth-best on the chart.
 
Tyreke Key lead the way for the Sycamores with 27 points and nine rebounds. He hit one of the bigger shots on the game with his third 3-pointer to open space in a tight contest. Cooper Neese did first half damage and finished with 13 points.
 
Leading by a point, Jordan Barnes stepped back and hit a deep 3-pointer with just over six minutes to go to pad the cushion at 63-59. Prim hit 1-of-2 free throws for the Sycamores but Tre Williams converted his signature hook shot as the clock ticked under the five minute mark for the 65-60 advantage. LaRavia drove the baseline and hit a lay-up on the next possession to stretch the lead out to 67-60.
 
Tyreke Key took a hard foul after a defensive rebound with just under a minute to go and hit all of his free throws for the 73-65 lead.
 
For the game, the Sycamores hit 27-of-50 from the field (54.0 percent) and were 8-of-13 from 3-point range (61.5 percent).
 
Christian Williams scored first for the Sycamores after halftime to stretch the Indiana State lead out to 10 points, but Missouri State came back with seven in a row to trim the ISU advantage down to 48-45 with 16:24 remaining in the game. Tre Williams found Bronson Kessinger in the paint as the clock ticked down towards the 15 minute mark to stop the Bears' run and push the lead out to 50-45. But Missouri State answered with five in a row taking advantage of a Sycamore miscue to the knot the game at 50.
 
Tulio Da Silva gave the Bears their first lead since early in the contest on a lay-up, but Cooper Neese answered with a lay-up of his own to push the Sycamores back ahead 53-52 with just over 12 minutes remaining. After the Bears scored quickly in response, Tyreke Key hit a big turnaround jumper as the clock ticked below the 11 minute mark to push the Sycamores back ahead 55-54. Key would go on to convert a driving lay-up and Gaige Prim answered with a conventional 3-point play to tie the contest at 57. Key hit a left wing 3-pointer with just over nine minutes remaining to restore the 60-57 lead.
 
Ja'Monta Black hit a 3-pointer for the Bears nearly four minutes into the contest to stake Missouri State to a 7-4 advantage before the defense clamped down and held them scoreless over the next four minutes and in the meantime went on an 11-0 run. Jordan Barnes began the spurt with a triple which moved him into the ISU all-time scoring Top 10 and past Duane Klueh as well as Carl Nicks for No. 9 all-time. When Cooper Neese hit a driving lay-up with 11:50 remaining, the Sycamores led 17-9 and forced the Bears to call a timeout.
 
Cam Bacote and Cooper Neese drilled trifectas on consecutive possessions around the nine minute mark to push the Indiana State lead out to 25-13. Tyreke Key buried a 3-pointer with 7:21 remaining and the Sycamores had the Bears doubled up at 30-15. A Jake LaRavia tip-in with 48 seconds left put the Sycamores up by 12 points before Ross Owens scored the final four points of the half with his second 3-pointer of the season and a charity toss with 1.8 seconds remaining. The Sycamores, who had overcome halftime deficits to win in each of their last two games, went back to the locker room with a 46-38 lead. Jordan Barnes and Tyreke Key led the way with 12 points each.
 
Missouri State was led in the contest by Gaige Prim with 23 points.
 
Indiana State returns home for a key match-up against Loyola Chicago on Wednesday, February 5 at 6 p.m. (ET). Note the earlier than normal tip-off time inside Hulman Center to accommodate the CBS Sports Network national television broadcast. Tickets to the game are Buy 1, Get 1 Free in certain sections on GoSycamores.com.