December
30, 2006 SYCAMORES GO DOWNTOWN TO DEFEAT BULLDOGS TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – It was a career night for ISU freshman guard Marico Stinson who scored a career high 37 points and set two school records in leading the Indiana State University Sycamores to an 84-73 victory over the Drake Bulldogs Saturday night in the Hulman Center. Stinson made nine three pointers to set a single game scoring record for ISU. The old record was eight and was held by four different players. The other record was for three-point percentage in a game as Stinson made 9-of-10 (90%). The old record was 85.7% and was held by two different players. Fellow freshman guard Cole Holmstrom had a career high 20 points and a career high six assists in the game. The only other ISU player in double figures was junior guard Gabrial Moore, who finished with 16 points and six assists. “We spotted them 17 points in the first half,” head coach Royce Waltman said. “To come back and win this game was very good. The Purdue win was an emotional. This was a tough game. We just didn’t have the time to prepare that this team really needs, especially for a conference game. Waltman spoke highly of his freshmen players and the leadership of junior guard Gabrial Moore. “He was just on fire,” Waltman said of Stinson. “We got good shots against the zone and attacked it well. Marico was on fire but he has been consistently pretty good and wanting to take shots. He has a lot of confidence in his shooting. Cole (Holmstrom) has been struggling and missed early but found his shot in the second half. And we can’t forget just how good the leadership of Gabe has been for these freshmen. Stinson ripped the nets for 26 points in the opening period of play, knocking down 6-of-7 from three point range and 10-of-12 overall. It was just three short of the school record for points in a half. The Sycamores trailed by as many as 17 points in the opening half before Stinson started to light up the scoreboard, scoring eight in a 10-2 ISU run that cut the deficit to 27-36. Stinson hit three more from long distance in the final two minutes as ISU trailed 38-41 at the half. The Sycamores came all the way in the second half. The game was tied four times, the last at 57 when Stinson knocked down his eighth trey of the game with 11:06 remaining. Holmstrom took Stinson’s queue and hit three straight three-pointers to put the Sycamores up 66-60 with 7:48 left. ISU limited the Bulldogs to just a single point over the next six and a half minutes in building a 73-61 with two minutes left. The Sycamores are now 8-4 overall and 1-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State will host Creighton next Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. (ET)
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