JONESBORO, Ark.?Arkansas State weathered a Denver run in the second half and held off the Pioneers as the Indians claimed a 72-61 win Thursday night.
ASU (8-12, 3-3 SBC) got 18 points from point guard Dereke Tipler and 16 from Marcus Ardison on a night when every possession counted. Head coach Dickey Nutt credited the win, in part, to the hard work put in rebounding the basketball.
“What a great win for this team, I can't be more proud for them,” said Nutt. “This team came off a long road swing and was very tired and physically beat up. But they never hung their heads. We had a great week of practice this week, working hard at blocking out and having our guards go hard for the rebounds. It really paid off tonight.”
Tipler grabbed nine rebounds on the night to go along with his game-high 18 points and five assists. Ardison and Isaac Wells added seven rebounds each for the Indians on a night when the team claimed a rebound edge of eight. It was a major improvement over the last two games in which the Indians were outrebounded by a total of 35.
The Indians nearly fell into the same pattern that has plagued them most of the season at home. After building a nine point second-half lead at 43-34 with 16:41 left, Denver quickly sliced into the lead ad tied the score at 54 with 10:10 remaining in the game.
Nutt called timeout to settle his team down and it worked.
“We weren't playing smart at that time and I knew the team just needed to settle down a little,” said Nutt. “The crowd really got into it at that point and, when Dereke hit that basket, it really rejuvenated the team.”
Tipler knocked down a jumper just outside the lane to put ASU back up two, then a nice drive to the right by Lorenzo Hampton allowed hit to connect for two of his nine points. Points were difficult to come by for both teams after the tie, but it was more difficult on Denver as the Pioneers would score just three points over the next 6:13 of the game, essentially putting away the Pioneers.
From there, Tipler and Jim Jones connected on the final six free throws in the last 1:06 to seal the victory.
But the game wasn't as easy as the final score may look. The Indians trailed a large part of the first half. Steve Wetrich connected on one of his three 3's on the night to give Denver (10-8, 3-2 SBC) a quick 3-0 lead.
The Pioneers were up four at 30-26 at the 5:22 mark of the first half after Terrence Gordon connected on a nice post move for his only bucket on the night. Marcus Ardison answered with a layup of his own the next time down the court to slice Denver's lead to two at 30-28.
Wells stole the ball from Wetrich on the next possession and missed a layup, but the ball ended in the hands of Yual Banks who connected on a 3 from just off the top of the key to put ASU up one. ASU ended the final 5:22 of the first half on a 9-2 run to take a three point lead in at the half, 35-32.
Preseason SBC player of the year Yemi Nicholson had a very quiet 15 points and nine rebounds, most of which came late in the second half. Nicholson entered the game averaging over 21 points and 12 rebounds per game in SBC action.
“Yemi is a great player, a great athlete, and we knew coming in that no one shuts that guy down,” said Nutt. “We just wanted to try and limit his easy baskets and make sure we challenged everything he tried to do, whether it was rebound or score. We played a little tentative out there around him at times, but I have to give Marcus, Isaac and Kitus (Witherspoon) for doing a pretty good job on him.”
The Indians got a boost from Kitus Witherspoon as he returned to see limited action. Witherspoon, battling a bulging disc in his back, played sparingly on the night but managed nine minutes and grabbed five rebounds and a blocked shot before sitting down. Nutt knew that Witherspoon's presence on the floor was an emotional boost for his team.
“Having Kitus out there again for us, even for just the few minutes that he played, I thought was another key in the game,” said Nutt. “He gives us a good defender in the paint and won't back down to players the caliber of Nicholson. He's tough and he knows how to play defense and rebound. He's really gave the team a boost tonight.”
ASU will face North Texas on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. in the Convocation Center. The Mean Green is 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt after 69-60 loss at Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday night.
