ISU Sycamores fall short at Creighton, 69-65

OMAHA, NE (2-18-2004) - Despite a game-high 21 points from Eric Gray (Chicago, Ill./Thornwood HS) and a career-high 12 points from Russell Trudeau (Lafayette, Ind./Catholic Central HS), the Indiana State men’s basketball team lost at Creighton, 69-65 on Wednesday (Feb. 18). The Sycamores shot 25-of-47 (.532) from the floor, including 9-of-17 (.529) from three-point range.

Trailing 28-15 with 7:43 to play in the opening stanza, the Sycamores used a 14-2 run to close the half and cut the Bluejays’ lead to one (30-29) at intermission. CU moved ahead by seven (42-35) early in the second half, but the Trees put together a 15-5 run over a five minute span to take a three-point (50-47) lead with 8:22 to play. Creighton took the lead for good on a jumper from Mike Grimes with 5:10 left in the contest.

The Sycamores (8-15, 4-11 MVC) trailed by one point on two separate occasions, but were unable to take the lead as Creighton (19-4, 11-4 MVC) went 7-of-8 from the free throw line over the last 1:31. The Bluejays finished 19-of-26 from the free throw line, while ISU went 6-of-13 from the charity stripe.

Brody Deren led the Bluejays with 13 points, while Nate Funk and Michael Lindeman added twelve points, apiece. Grimes finished with a game-high nine rebounds. Gray, Amani Daanish (Los Angeles, Calif./Cowley CC), and David Moss (Chicago, Ill./Thornwood HS) each tallied four rebounds for ISU.

The Sycamores return to action on Saturday (Feb. 21) when they host the University at Buffalo as part of Bracket Buster II. Tip-off is set for 3:05 p.m. CST at Hulman Center. The entire Sycamores' 2003-2004 men's basketball season will be carried live via Internet Audio streaming on USA-365.com. Brian Fritz calls the play-by-play and Jim Waugh provides the color commentary. Saturday's pregame shows start at 2:40 p.m. and the tip-off is at 3:05 p.m., CST / 4:05 p.m., EST.

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