Dec. 22, 2005
Box Score
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -
Indiana State's Gabriel Moore spoiled Greg Dilligard's second career double-double with nine of his 18 points in the overtime period to defeat Illinois State 69-59, in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams at the Hulman Center Thursday night.
With the loss, Illinois State falls to 5-4 overall and 0-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while Indiana States moves to 8-0 and 1-0, respectively.
The Redbirds erased a five-point second half deficit at 49-44 with 3:58 left in regulation, thanks to a three-point basket by Nedu Onyeuku and a baseline jumper by Dilligard with 2:50 left on the clock. The Redbirds took a brief one-point lead when Onyeuku sank the front end of a one-and-one from the foul line. Indiana State's Trent Wurtz forced the fourth tie of the game at 50-50 with a 1-for-2 effort from the line with 27 seconds left.
The Redbirds held for the final shot, but the ball was forced out of bounds with 3.2 seconds remaining. Coming out of a time out, Illinois State's Neil Plank had an open look from three-point range, but opted to drive and lost control of the ball to force the extra period.
Indiana State stormed out to a 56-50 lead, just 26 seconds into overtime, as Moore scored six straight points. Moore was fouled by Khalif Ford on a three-point attempt and sank all three free throws, before stealing the inbound pass and scoring a traditional three-point play. In the extra period, free throws decided the game for the Sycamores as they made 13-of-14 from the line.
In the first half, Illinois State took the lead at 11 minutes on a back door lay-up by Onyeuku from Plank to put the `Birds up 12-11. However, the Sycamores went on a 6-0 run, all six points were scored by senior David Moss, to put Indiana State up 18-12 with eight minutes left to play in the half. Illinois State's foul trouble late in the first period allowed the Sycamores to extend the lead with four free throws from Moss. The `Birds committed 13 fouls compared to the Sycamore's six which resulted in 11 points from the line for Indiana State.
Dilligard led all scorers with a career-high 22 points, on 11-for-18 shooting, and added 12 rebounds with three blocks. He was the only Redbird in double figure scoring. Moss led the Sycamore scoring attack with 21 points and seven assists, while Moore finished with 10 rebounds to go along with his 18 points.
The Redbirds return to action on New Year's Eve day against the Creighton Bluejays with a 2:05 p.m. match-up at Redbird Arena.
