Fantastic finish lifts ISU men past Drake

By Todd Golden

Des Moines, Iowa — With 35 seconds left in the game, and with Indiana State’s 60-46 victory over Drake assured, ISU coach Kevin McKenna went down the Sycamore bench and gave each of the ISU players and coaches five for a job well done.

McKenna later admitted that the last eight minutes of the game might have been the best offensive and defensive stretch the Sycamores have put together at one time all season. ISU finished the game on a 21-4 run to secure an emphatic victory over the Bulldogs on Sunday to go to 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“I’m excited for our guys. They competed and we won as a team. Everybody contributed something to the effort. We hung in there and got a road win,” McKenna said. “I was thinking last year what a tough, long hard season it was and when we won our 10th game [ISU won its 10th game in the regular-season finale last season]. You hate to reflect sometimes, but we’re ahead of where we were last year and as long as our guys keep competing, the sky’s the limit for this team.”

It was ISU’s first win at Knapp Center in nine tries as the Sycamores won their fifth game in six tries and also notched their fourth road victory of the season.

ISU was down seven at halftime, but roared back to outscore Drake (5-9, 0-3) 41-20 in the second half.

There were many contributors. Harry Marshall led ISU with 15 points and had the defensive assignment on all-MVC guard Josh Young, who scored just nine points. Dwayne Lathan, who had 12 points and six rebounds, made a key steal and block when the game was on the line. Rashad Reed, who had 11 points, scored six of them on a pair of key 3-pointers during ISU’s game-finishing run.

But the unsung hero might be Jordan Printy. Known primarily as a shooter, Printy had an off night with a 2-for-7 performance from the field, with just 1 of 5 from beyond the 3-point arc. However, Printy made his presence felt in a big way elsewhere. The sophomore had five rebounds, four assists and two blocks and kept Drake’s matchup zone honest by moving well away from the ball to create space for his teammates.

“You hear coaches talk about a floor game. Jordan had a floor game. He didn’t shoot it great, but four assists, five rebounds, including a big one late. He made some shots for guys and got some guys open on penetration. He’s a heady player, he had a great floor game,” McKenna said.

No one was more pleased than Printy himself.

“It feels really good. I didn’t shoot the ball well, but I was able to make plays in other ways. We needed this win, so it really feels good,” Printy said.

The one 3-pointer Printy did hit proved vital in the eventual positive outcome for the Sycamores.

ISU was down 42-39 with 8:52 left when it took control. The Sycamores took advantage of a pair of Drake turnovers. Printy converted the first into a 3-pointer to tie the game and Rashad Reed hit a 3-pointer off the second giveaway to put ISU up 45-42.

“We started penetrating into them as opposed to away from them. We were more aggressive. Then we started hitting shots and we had more space to operate and more driving lanes,” McKenna said.

To call it a kill shot is 20/20 hindsight, but ISU felt it was on the precipice of something good if it could just string together a defensive stop and a bucket.

“I was getting open shots all night. Dwayne, Harry ... everyone was giving me open shots. I missed a couple and coach said, ‘You’re going to make the next one.’ Harry caught me off a screen. It went in and it changed the game,” said Reed, who was 1 of 5 from 3-point range until he made the go-ahead bucket.

The Sycamores would get plenty more. ISU led 48-44 when Marshall converted a reverse layup off a Printy feed to put ISU up six with 2:39 left. Drake freshman Aaron Hawley then turned the ball over on Drake’s end. Dwayne Lathan came up with the loose ball in transition and went coast-to-coast for a one-handed dunk to make it 52-44.

Lathan then emphatically swatted a Hawley shot on the other end. ISU quickly got the ball up the floor to Reed, who drained a 3-pointer to make it 55-44. In barely a minute of game time, ISU’s lead went from four to 11.

Drake did not stop ISU on any possession for the remainder of the game as ISU’s final margin was its largest lead of the contest.

The Bulldogs helped the Sycamores’ cause. Drake was 1 of 6 at the line in the second half, including several misses that could have forestalled or prevented ISU’s run. The Bulldogs were just 33.3 percent from the field in the second half and had no one who reached double-figure scoring. The offensive woes might have contributed to defensive ones late in the game.

“Our inability to hit free throws and stay in the game hurt us at a critical juncture,” Drake coach Mark Phelps said. “You have to have special resolve to defend hard at the defensive end [when shots aren’t falling]. Don’t discount the confidence the opponent gets when they get stops on their end too.”

ISU next travels to Bradley on Wednesday. The Sycamores have rarely been as excited as they were after the victory over the Bulldogs and feel sky-high going into a tough game at Carver Arena.

“We came in here, worked hard and played defense as a team. It feels good after four years to finally get a win here,” said Marshall, a senior.



Indiana State 60

Player min fg 3pt ft r a pf tp

Richard 31 4-9 0-1 1-2 6 1 3 9

Leitnaker 16 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0

Reed 29 4-11 3-7 0-0 4 1 1 11

Lathan 30 5-10 0-2 2-2 6 1 2 12

Marshall 36 6-8 1-3 2-2 3 1 2 15

Doluony 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Crawford 12 1-3 0-0 0-1 3 1 4 2

Martin 11 0-0 0-0 1-2 2 0 2 1

Printy 24 2-7 1-5 1-1 5 4 0 6

Carter 8 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 1 0 4

Totals 24-54 5-18 7-10 *37 10 14 60

Drake 46

Player min fg 3pt ft r a pf tp

Hawley 25 4-12 1-4 0-0 6 1 1 9

Templeton 32 3-7 1-2 1-1 6 2 3 8

VanDeest 27 2-8 0-1 1-5 6 1 4 5

Young 39 3-9 2-5 1-3 4 4 2 9

Wedel 28 3-7 0-1 0-0 3 1 2 6

Stanley 15 2-5 0-2 0-0 1 1 0 4

Parker 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0

Eaddy 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0

Simons 20 1-3 1-2 0-0 3 0 1 3

Uhlenhopp 5 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2

Totals 19-54 5-17 3-9 *34 10 15 46

Halftime score — DU 26, ISU 19. FG Pct. — ISU .444, DU .352. 3-pt FG Pct. — ISU .278, DU .294. FT Pct. — ISU .700, DU .333. Steals — ISU 4 (Richard, Leitnaker, Reed, Lathan), DU 4 (Templeton, VanDeest, Wedel, Young). Blocks — ISU 8 (Lathan 3), DU 1 (Hawley). Turnovers — ISU 14 (Lathan 5), DU 12 (Wedel 3, Stanley 3). Team rebounds* — ISU 2, DU 3. A — 3,924.

Next — ISU (10-4, 2-1) will play at Bradley and Drake (5-9, 0-3) will play at Creighton on Wednesday.

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