TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – A trio of Illinois State players in double figure points and 10 rebounds from Kendall Lewis were overshadowed by an 11-0 game-ending run by Indiana State, as the Redbirds fell 60-57 on Saturday afternoon.
Both Liam McChesney and Antonio Reeves scored 13 points for ISU, while Josiah Strong added a dozen. Mark Freeman narrowly missed the double-figure mark with eight points and three assists. Lewis grabbed 10 rebounds, his second double-digit rebounding game of the season, as he added a steal while scoring five points.
The loss drops Illinois State to 11-15 on the season and 4-9 in MVC play. The Redbirds return home for a Tuesday evening battle with the MVC-leading UNI Panthers in a 7 p.m. tip-off at Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds led for nearly 36 minutes of game-play time, as the team never trailed until the final 1:49 of the contest. ISU jumped ahead by eight at 11-3, 2:12 into the contest. The Sycamores fought back and closed the gap to just two at 13-11 before Illinois State ran off nine straight points to push the margin to 11. The first-half lead grew to as many as 16 following a Lewis three-pointer with 4:16 to play in the first half. The hosts began to chip away at the Redbird lead, trimming the deficit to a dozen heading into the locker room at halftime.
ISU kept its lead in double digits through the first five and a half minutes of the second half, before Indiana State climbed back, eventually tying the score at 44 with 9:14 to play in the contest. ISU and Indiana State traded baskets for the next three minutes, with the teams standing tied at 49 with 6:49 to play in the game. The Redbirds fought back and used three pointers from Strong and Reeves and a pair of Lewis free throws to run off eight straight points at 57-49. Indiana State proceeded to out-score ISU 11-0 over the final four minutes, to take its first lead of the game with 1:49 to play in the game and iced the game with a pair of free throws with just under three seconds remaining in the contest.
The Redbirds made a third of their shots from both the field (21-of-63) and from long range (8-of-24) and converted on 7-of-9 tries from the charity stripe. Indiana State was 18-of-52 from the field, and 3-of-17 from beyond the arc, while making 21-of-26 shots from the free throw line.
Cooper Neese, who scored a career-high 35 points in the Sycamores' last game against Evansville, added 28 points on 8-of-22 shooting from the field and going 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. Xavier Bledson added 11 points for the Sycamores in the win.
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