TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State nearly erased a double-digit, second-half deficit before the comeback ran out of steam on Tuesday night as the Sycamores fell to SIU Edwardsville, 77-72, inside the Hulman Center.
 
The Sycamores (1-2) trailed by 12 points at 58-46 with 10:37 left in the contest as SIUE (2-2) went on a 13-2 run spanning five minutes capped by Ring Malith's dunk off the Declan Dillon assist as the Cougars seized control of the game midway through the second half.
 
Indiana State steadily chipped away at the lead sparked by their hustle on the offensive glass as Aaron Gray and Markus Harding both recorded offensive rebounds with Harding putting in a layup to cut the SIUE lead down to 10. Gray followed with another offensive putback on the next offensive possession and Camp Wagner followed with back-to-back three-pointers as the Sycamores brought the game back to 60-57 with 6:15 to play.
 
Bruno Alocen connected on a three-pointer from the left corner off the assist from Tyran Cook two possessions later to tie the game up and cap the Indiana State 14-2 run to even the score in front of an electric Hulman Center crowd.
 
SIUE answered on the other end with a pair of Ray'Sean Taylor's three-pointers, the second of which made it a 68-65 Cougars lead with 3:09 to play. Malith took over from there with a tip-in layup and a three-pointer to stretch the lead back out to seven points with 1:48 to play. Indiana State continued to battle back bringing the game back to within three points twice in the final minute courtesy of an Gray jumper and a Jahni Summers layup to cut the game to 75-72 with 26 seconds to play.
 
The Sycamores mounted one last shot with 10 seconds remaining as Harding pulled in a defensive rebound sparking an Indiana State fast-break. However, Summers' contested three-pointer went off the side of the rim and SIUE's Taylor hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to provide the final 77-72 margin.
 
SIUE took an early 11-2 lead in the first half as Ray'Sean Taylor, Brian Taylor, and Desmond Polk all hit three-pointers to give the Cougars the advantage. The Sycamores rallied back on a pair of Summers' three-pointers and a Derek Vorst free throw to cut the lead down to 11-9 setting up a back-and-forth first 20 minutes of the game.
 
Indiana State took their first lead of the game at the 9:09 mark in the half as Wagner hit a three-pointer to give the Sycamores an 18-17 lead. The Sycamores continued to hit from outside with Alocen dropping in a pair of three-pointers, while Vorst powered in a hook shot in the paint at the 4:06 mark to make it a 31-26 Sycamore lead.

The score was tied 33-33 heading into the final seconds of the half before Samage Teel found a little distance behind the arc. The senior stepped back connecting on his third three-pointer of the first half with three seconds remaining on the clock to give the Sycamores the 36-33 halftime lead.
 
Summers led Indiana State with a team-high 15 points shooting 5-of-10 from the floor, while Wagner added 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting from behind the arc. Gray added nine points and 10 rebounds, while adding three steals. Nine of the 10 Sycamores on the court scored and recorded at least one rebound on Tuesday night.
 
Ray'Sean Taylor paced SIUE with a game-high 22 points and six assists, while Malith added 19 points, five rebounds, and three steals in the win.

News & Notes

• Indiana State was outscored 42-16 on points in the paint, converting on 8-of-17. Just one game ago, the Sycamores scored 66-of-93 of its points in the paint. From inside the arc as a whole, the Sycamores were 9-of-18.
• Jahni Summers' 15 points and Camp Wagner's 12 points are the most so far in their Indiana State careers. Wagner scored 12 of Indiana State's 29 bench points.
• Aaron Gray grabbed five of his 10 rebounds off the offensive glass.
• Markus Harding (2), Samage Teel (3), Jahni Summers (3), Bruno Alocen (3), and Camp Wagner (4) all knocked down two-or-more three-pointers. Teel and Alocen combined for 5-of-9 triples for the Sycamores in the opening 20 minutes.
• The Sycamores spread the ball around in the first half as eight different players scored a bucket.
• The Sycamores against Eureka made five triples in the entire game, and in the first half against the Cougars Indiana State made nine. The 15 triples in the SIUE game is the most in the Sycamores' three games so far this season.

Up Next
Indiana State heads to Muncie to battle the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday, November 16 at 2 p.m. ET.

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