TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Led by 22 points from Kendle Moore, Missouri State snagged its fifth Valley road win of the season here Sunday, leading wire-to-wire to score a 66-62 win over Indiana State.
The Bears (16-14, 12-8 MVC) held off a late surge by the Sycamores to finish things off with Moore providing a clutch rebound on ISU’s last possession, and then burying a free throw with 1.2 seconds left to clinch it.
With the victory, Missouri State locks up the No. 6 seed for next week’s Arch Madness while reeling off three straight seasons with 12 or more conference wins for the first time in program history.
Joining Moore in double figures for MoState was Donovan Clay with 15 and Alston Mason with 10. Four Bears had five rebounds with Mason dishing out 5 assists and Moore snagging three of the team’s nine assists.
Indiana State (20-11, 13-7 MVC) was led by Cooper Neese with 14 points, while Cade McKnight added 12, and Courvoisier McCauley scored 10.
After leading by nine at the break, the Bears held off several runs by the Sycamores in the game’s final 10 minutes. Mason ended a 6-0 ISU run on a floater with 7:49 to go. Later, Jonathan Mogbo and Clay scored on back-to-back alley-oop dunks to stretch a four-point lead to 54-46 with 6:50 remaining.
Chance Moore knocked down a clutch three for MoState at the six-minute-mark, and then Clay extended five-point Bears’ leads twice from there on a layup and elbow jumper to make it 61-54 with three-and-a-half minutes showing.
Indiana State trimmed its deficit to four points on two more occasions – the first was answered by Damien May’s two free throws, but McCauley got the Sycamores as close as they would get by making a clutch 3-pointer with 22.6 seconds to go and making it a 63-62 contest.
The Trees had to foul from there and sent Clay to the line, but the MSU upper classmen converted both with 17 seconds left. Then with the game on the line, MSU’s defense stepped up, Neese’s potential game-tying three came up short, and Kendle Moore corralled the rebound. He was fouled and made one-of-two at the stripe to put the win on ice.
The Bears finished 23-of-54 (426) overall, 7-of-24 (.292) from three and 13-of-21 (.619) at the line with a 37-31 rebounding advantage and 5 blocks.
Indiana State was 20-of-50 (.400) from the field, 3-of-18 (.167) from distance and 19-for-23 (.826) at the line with 11 turnovers.
In the first half, the Bears rode the hot shooting hand of Kendle Moore to a nine-point advantage at the break. Moore was 4-for-4 from three and 5-of-6 from the field overall to bank 17 points in the opening stanza.
Meanwhile, the MSU defense was solid throughout, surrendering just 8 field goals and holding the Sycamores to 0-for-9 from long range to lead by as many as 14. The home squad ended the half on an 8-3 run that included six free throws in the final 4:52.
The Bears will take the No. 6 seed into the annual State Farm MVC Tourament in St. Louis, March 2-5, with an 8:30 p.m. first-round game on Thursday evening at Enterprise Center.
