Indiana State men’s basketball fell to Belmont on Saturday afternoon at homme, 84-79. Indiana State moved to 9-8, 3-3 MVC while Belmont improved to 12-5, 4-2 MVC.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first 2 1/2 minutes into the game before Samage Teel made a layup at 17:33. The Bruins first got on the scoreboard with a corner three-pointer at the 16:56 mark.
Belmont used a 10-3 run to get up 12-5 only five minutes into the ballgame. Jaden Daughtry and Josiah LeGree made layups to get within four points, but another corner triple by Belmont gave the Bruins an 18-11 lead at the second media timeout with 11:59 on the clock.
Indiana State fell down 24-11 after another run by the Bruins, a 9-0 in 2 1/2 minutes, before Camp Wagner knocked down a left-corner three midway through the half.
K’mani Doughty knocked the ball loose form a Bruin that was picked up by Gray who passed ahead to Bruno Alocen down the court. Alocen drained a three-pointer from the right wing, his first bucket of the day, and two possessions later Wagner drained a triple from the right wing to force a Belmont timeout. The Sycamores ended up scoring seven straight in total yet still trailed 26-21 with 7:44 left in the half.
A jumper and two three-pointers by Belmont put the Bruins back up by 34-21, but Teel drained a right-wing three after a drive and kick from Gray to Markus Harding to Teel. A couple of possessions later, Harding tipped out his offensive rebound to Wagner on the wing who made his third three-pointer of the game. The Sycamores trailed seven, 34-27, with 3:39 left in the half.
Coming out of the timeout, Teel made a triple from the right side, but Belmont followed up with three-pointers in the next two possessions. Wagner blocked Belmont’s last-second shot attempt at the buzzer, but the Bruins took a 10-point, 42-32 lead into the locker room.
At the break, Indiana State shot 35.5% from the field (11-for-31) and 30.4% from deep (7-for-23) in contrast to Belmont’s 48.4% from the floor and 41.2% from three.
Teel got Indiana State on the board in the second half, finishing a tough contested layup at the rim. The Sycamores went on to score in the next four consecutive possessions on a layup by Gray and three from Daughtry. Belmont held their own in the stretch and led 50-43 with 15:24 left on the clock.
Following a Teel layup from the assist by Gray, Indiana State was 8-for-10 in the second half. The Sycamores missed the first two shots but connected on the next eight attempts.
Through almost the first eight minutes of the half, both teams seemed to answer the other’s offensive effort. Belmont shot an even 50% in this point while Indiana State shot 66.7%.
Indiana State caught a spark and went on a 12-0 run over the next 4:52. Gray drained a three-pointer and Teel made the next seven points for the Sycamores. He drained an open three-pointer to cut the deficit down to a five-point, 62-57 Belmont lead, bringing the Sycamore crowd to their feet. The game remained scoreless for over the next two minutes before Teel made another layup with 9:37 left on the clock.
Derek Vorst entered the game and kept Belmont scoreless by blocking a layup within the first minute of being on the court.
Gray gave Indiana State its first lead of the game with 7:41 to play by knocking down a pair of free throws, bringing the Sycamore faithful to their feet once more. Indiana State led 63-62. Belmont ended their drought with a layup at the 7:24 mark.
After a quick three-point Indiana State advantage, Belmont snagged the lead with five-straight points to go up 72-70 with under five minutes to play.
A pair of Daughtry free throws at the 2:28 and a hookshot from Belmont put the Sycamores down 78-75 with 2:02 left in the game.
Following a midrange jumper by Belmont, Daughtry grabbed an offensive board and put back the layup to put the sycamores within a possession, 80-77, with 1:04 left. An open dunk by Belmont put the Bruins back up five, 82-77 with about 30 seconds remaining. Belmont hung on the rest of the way for the 84-79 victory.
Jaden Daughtry led Indiana State in scoring with 23 points on a near-perfect shooting day, going 10-for-11 but started 9-for-9 from the field. Daughtry also recorded four rebounds and two steals. Samage Teel scored 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting, recording six rebounds, a game-tying six assists, and a block. Aaron Gray finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
News & Notes
- Indiana State shot 42.9% from the field (27-for-63), 27.0% (10-for-37) from three, and 62.5% (15-for-24) from the line.
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- Indiana State improved their shooting in the second half, from 35.5% in the first half to 50.0% in the second half.
- The Sycamores shot 65.4% from inside the arc (17-for-26), the best two-point effort since the UHSP game (December 21; 78.4%).
- Indiana State led for only 1:19 minutes of play.
- The last four games have been decided by five points or less:
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- vs. Belmont (L, 84-79), at Valparaiso (L/OT, 98-95), at Evansville (W, 66-62), vs. Bradley (L/OT, 90-89).
- The Sycamore bench scored 41-of-79 points (51.9% of total points), higher than the season average entering the game of 32.75.
- Indiana State assisted on 19-of-27 made field goals (70.1%), the highest assist total since UHSP on December 21 (27).
- Jaden Daughtry finished 10-for-11 from the field, while the rest of the team shot 17-for-52 (37.2%). Daughtry now has five-straight games of at least 16 points, averaging 21.8 points per game in the last five while playing just over 22 minutes per game.
- Aaron Gray recorded his first double-double as a Sycamore. He didn’t set a career high in points (13 against Arkansas State), but he tied his career high in rebounds with 10 (previously set against Chicago State).
- Samage Teel crossed the 1,300 career points mark, now sitting at 1,304.
Up Next
Indiana State travels to Peoria, Ill. to face Bradley on January 15, scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
