Sycamores culminate Exhibition Season with 82-74 win over Premier All-Stars

TERRE HAUTE, IN (11-13-2002) - In their final tune-up for the 2002-2003 basketball season, the Indiana State men's basketball team relied on an all-around team effort to lead the Sycamores to an 82-74 win over the Premier All-Stars.

The Sycamores ended the exhibition season with a 2-0 record; however, none of the wins will appear on the official tally of the season. In the win, Indiana State senior Marcus Howard led four Sycamores in double figures with a game-high 16 points. For Howard, it was his first action of the 2002-2003 season after missing the Sycamores opening exhibition contest against Indianapolis. Howard, a defensive stopper for ISU, was instrumental to a Sycamore defense that limited the All-Stars to a 38.4% shooting effort from the field, highlighted by a 30.6% effort in the second half.

Joining Howard in double figures was sophomore Lamar Grimes, who added 16 points; junior forward Catrel Green contributed 14 points and senior forward Brian Giesen chipped in with 10 points.

The Premier All-Stars landed three players in double figures with former Iowa State guard Justus Thigpen, who scored a team-high 15 in the loss. Brian Weakley, who added 12, all from the three-point arc and Karl Newman who added 11 points joined him in double figures.

In the win, Indiana State sophomore Jerrod Adler came off the bench to pull down a game-high eight rebounds. The Sycamores also got a spark off the bench from freshman Ted Morris who contributed seven points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of work. Howard also dished out a game-high four assists in the win, plus his teammates junior Wilfred Antoine and Grimes contributed three assists.

The wins and losses will begin counting in the Sycamores next contest on Friday, November 22 at 7 p.m. at the Hulman Center against Youngstown State for the season opener.