Indiana Statesman

March 2nd, 2007

Sycamores Triumph Over Illinois State

Freshman guard Marico Stinson’s three-pointer with 14 seconds left in the game won the play-in game of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship for the Indiana State men’s basketball team.
The Sycamores will play the Creighton Bluejays in the second round of the tournament at 6 p.m. Friday.
After the first half, the Sycamores trailed by three points 34-31 to the Redbirds.
Freshman guard Osiris Eldridge led the Redbirds with 12 points and finished the game with a game-high 18 points.
Sophomore center Jay Tunnell led the Sycamores in the first half with 11 points aided by five-for-five shooting from the free throw line.
Tunnell said he was able to be effective in the first half due to the lack of double teaming by the Redbirds.
“They didn’t double as much and I got a couple of offensive rebounds, that always helps,” Tunnell said. “We’ve been making an effort to try to get it as deep as we can in the post and it’s been paying off for me and the rest of the guys getting easier buckets.”
Indiana State head coach Royce Waltman said he was pleased with the win because the Sycamores did not allow the Redbirds jump ahead in the second half after staying even in the first half.
“We did a good job of fighting back,” Waltman said.
In the second half, the Redbirds started with a nine to four run. Senior forward Greg Dilligard scored six points during that period. This put the Redbirds up by seven, 43-36.
The Sycamore trailed by 12 with 11:40 left in the second half after two free throws by Illinois State junior guard Boo Richardson.
The Redbirds then went on a cool streak and made only two of their next 12 field goals to end the game.
Sycamore senior forward Trent Wurtz sealed the deal by rebounding a missed Redbird field goal and then hitting one of his two free throws to put the Sycamores up by three with 1.3 seconds left.
Tunnell ended the game as the Sycamore high scorer with 16 points. He also led the team in rebounds with seven, four coming off the offensive glass.
Freshman guard Cole Holmstrom finished with 12 points and sophomore forward Adam Arnold and junior guard Gabe Moore each added 10 points.
Moore attributed the toughness of the team during the game to the fact it would be the last game of their season if they lose.
“Either you win or you go home,” Moore said. “Tonight, we didn’t want to go home.”
The Sycamores shot 43.8 percent from the field as opposed to Illinois State’s 42.6 percent.
Indiana State was able to convert on 77.3 percent of its free throw attempts, including a seven-for-eight effort in the first half.
The Sycamores shot 70 percent in the second half from behind the arc to make up for their 18.2 percent in the first half from downtown.
The 8,013 people in attendance at the game made up the highest total in Missouri Valley Conference Tournament history for an opening session crowd. The previous high was 7,343, which was set in 1998

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