JONESBORO, Ark.?Arkansas State's final tune-up before starting the regular season was decided in the first seven minutes as the Indians jumped out to a quick 20-2 lead and rolled to a 97-52 victory over Lyon College on Wednesday.
The Indians raced out to a 20-2 lead just 6:17 into the game after a lay up by Jim Jones. The bucket forced the Scot coach to call a timeout to regroup his team. Over a minute passed before Jason Donaldson stole the ball from Lorenzo Hampton and broke away for an uncontested dunk that stopped the ASU run to start the game.
“I thought the first five minutes we set the tone defensively,” said head coach Dickey Nutt after the game. “It started with Dereke Tipler, but I thought offensively we got the ball inside, where I thought we had the advantage.”
ASU's lead quickly increased to 31 with 8:44 remaining in the first half as head coach Dickey Nutt began substituting liberally. The lead would increase to 38, the difference in the halftime score. The Indians led at the break, 57-19.
Overall, 14 of the 15 Indians that saw playing time scored at least two points. Isaac Wells paced ASU's offensive attack, scoring 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting in just 20 minutes of play. Marcus Ardison added 10 points in just 13 minutes and Dereke Tipler scored 10 to go along with seven assists, three steals and three rebounds with no turnovers in 20 minutes. Twelve players played at least 10 minutes for the Tribe.
“Overall, I thought Isaac Wells really had an outstanding game tonight,” continued Nutt. “He was everywhere and shot the ball inside and out, but defensively he does a lot of good things for us.”
Lyon was led by Jonathan Donaldson's 16 points, but the Scots' leading scorer struggled much of the game until midway through the second half. Eight of his 16 came when ASU's lead was up to 46 points with just 8:28 left to play.
The inside game for ASU was too much for the smaller Scots as Kitus Witherspoon, Ardison, Wells, Little, Kewain Gant and Ashton Farmer all helped the Indians to a 55-18 edge in points in the paint.
“Kitus Witherspoon, Marcus Ardison, Theo Little and all those guys gave us good minutes tonight,” said Nutt. “I thought that is where our advantage was, on the inside.”
The Indians have a short turnaround for the start of the season. Missouri-Rolla comes to Jonesboro on Friday, November 18, to tip-off the regular season at 7:05 p.m. After starting the season at home, the Indians travel to Starkville, Miss., to face the Bulldogs of Mississippi State on Monday, November 21.
Season tickets can still be purchased through the ASU Box Office by calling (870) 972-2781 or toll free at (888) ASU-FANS. Tickets may also be purchased online by visiting tickets.astate.edu.
