TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – In front of a packed crowd in a sea of blue at the Hulman Center Wednesday night, the Indiana State Sycamores fought for a gutsy win against the previously undefeated Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Drake, defeating the Bulldogs 75-73 in their Valley opener.
 
Indiana State (7-1, 1-0 MVC) led Drake (6-1, 0-1 MVC) for 31:15 in the game, but after being up by 14 points at 8:40 in the first half, the Sycamores found themselves down by five with 3:57 to go in the second. Leading scorer Robbie Avila sparked a late 9-0 run for the Sycamores spanning 2:38 to get ISU back up to a four-point lead at 73-69 with 15 seconds to go, and Cameron Henry hit four clutch free throws in those final 15 seconds to help the Sycamores fend off a late push from the Bulldogs.
 
Avila finished the night with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field alongside a team-high eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Henry was 10-of-12 from the charity stripe in the game and finished with 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
 
Jayson Kent made his first start of the season and scored the first eight straight points for the Sycamores before capping his night with a pair of game-tying free throws in the last 1:35 to get him in double-figures. He also pulled down a career-high seven boards.
 
Courvoisier McCauley also scored in double-figures with 12 points off the bench. Kailex Stephens was 2-of-2 from the field with five rebounds and two steals.
 
First Half
After giving up the first score of the game, Kent answered with three-straight buckets including two from deep to put the Sycamores up 8-3 at 17:33. ISU then went on a 13-2 run spanning 4:13 to push the lead to 21-9 with 10:59 to go in the first. McCauley swiped a pass and took it all the way in for a layup, and then Indiana State's lead reached a game-high 14 points on a pair of Trenton Gibson free throws at 8:40.
 
Drake would cut the lead down to 35-27, but Stephens drilled a pair of late buckets to help send the Sycamores into the halftime break with a 42-35 advantage.
 
Second Half
The Sycamores opened up the second half with a Henry slam off a Gibson steal, but Drake later cut its deficit to five points at 47-42 with 16:09 to go. The Bulldogs had a chance to take the lead on back-to-back shooting fouls but settled for tying things up at 48-48 with 13:43 left.
 
However, Drake took its first lead since the opening bucket of the game off an ISU turnover at 7:15 to make it 62-61, and then hit back-to-back baskets off a defensive rebound and another Sycamore turnover to push its lead to 67-63 with 4:28 to go.
 
Avila came up with a huge defensive stop followed by a triple to cut ISU's deficit down to 69-67 at 2:40, sparking that late 9-0 run to help the Sycamores hold on for the win.
 
Inside the Numbers

• Three-pointers were a difference maker for the Sycamores in the game as ISU shot 22-of-54 (40.7%) from the field while Drake shot 28-of-62 (45.2%), but ISU connected on 11 3-pointers compared to Drake's four.
• Drake also outscored ISU in the paint, 40-22.
• The Sycamores were 20-of-24 from the charity stripe while Drake was 13-of-19.
• In holding Drake's leading scorer Tucker DeVries to five points in the first half and 15 in the game, ISU allowed starter Roman Penn put up a game-high 32 points. With that, the Sycamore bench outscored the Bulldog bench 25-1.
• The Sycamores outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-34 and put up seven second-chance points compared to Drake's two.
• ISU committed 18 turnovers while Drake had just 12, but ISU scored 25 points off those Drake miscues.

News & Notes

• At 7-1, Indiana State is off to its best start in a season since 2005-06 when the team started off 8-0. For the second straight season, the Sycamores have started off 5-0 at home.
• With the win, the Sycamores improve to 21-25 all-time in Missouri Valley Conference openers and 1-1 in Valley openers under head coach Josh Schertz.
• Wednesday marks ISU's first-ever win over Drake in a Valley opener after entering the game 0-5 against the Bulldogs in conference openers.
• Robbie Avila's 16 points tied his career-high set in his last game against Trinity.
• Cooper Neese exited the court with an injury at 3:18 in the first half and did not return.

Up Next
The Sycamores will head out on a four-game road stint that includes trips to Miami Ohio, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, and Duquesne. ISU faces Miami Ohio Saturday, Dec. 3 at 1 p.m.
 
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For the latest information on the Sycamore Men's Basketball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
 
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