The battle for fourth place in the Carrs-Safeway Great Alaska Shootout came with a roller-coaster ending that fell in favor of Indiana State on Saturday at Sullivan Arena.
The Sycamores lost the lead twice in the last three minutes, but regained it in time to emerge with a 73-70 win over Pepperdine, which took sixth.
Jake Odum, who finished with 16 points for Indiana State (5-2), dropped in a game-winning layup that gave the Sycamores a 71-70 lead with 36 seconds to play.
Dawon Cummings cemented the win with two free throws with less than 20 seconds to play, and Pepperdine (5-3) missed a potential tying 3-pointer a the buzzer.
Indiana State's Justin Gant led all scorers with 18 points and made two big interior buckets down the stretch. He gave the Sycamores a 67-65 lead with one hard move to the rim. Then, after Pepperdine's Malcolm Brooks drilled a 3-pointer to put the Waves up by a point, Gant answered with another close-range score to give Indiana State a 69-68 lead with 1:09 to play. Gant, who was named player of the game, also made a steal that set up Cummings' closing free throws.
Pepperdine got double-digit scoring efforts from four players. Jeremy Major hit for 15 on 6 of 9 shooting, and Malte Kramer made four 3-pointers on his way to 14 points. Brendan Lane deposited 13 and Stacy Davis pumped in 12.
ISU (73) -- Arop 2-7 0-0 5; Gant 7-9 3-4 18; Kitchell 3-3 1-2 8; Cummings 1-5 2-2 5; Odum 7-11 1-1 16; Eitel 0-0 0-0 0; Brown 3-4 3-3 9; Moore 1-4 2-2 4; Burnett 0-0 0-0 0; Smith 3-7 1-2 8; Bell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-50 13-16 73.
PEPPERDINE (70) -- Davis 4-7 3-4 12; Lane 5-10 3-4 13; Kramer 5-7 0-0 14; Major 6-9 1-2 15; Brooks 3-4 0-1 7; Jesperson 0-1 0-0 0; Mills 1-3 1-2 3; Murray 1-1 0-0 3; Skouen 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 26-45 8-13 70.
ISU33 40 -- 73
Pepperdine35 35 -- 70
3-point goals -- ISU 6-12 (Arop 1-2; Gant 1-1; Kitchell 1-1; Cummings 1-3; Odum 1-3; Smith 1-2); Pepperdine 10-20 (Davis 1-1; Lane 0-1; Kramer 4-6; Major 2-4; Brooks 1-2; Jesperson 0-1; Mills 0-1; Murray 1-1; Skouen 1-3). Rebounds -- ISU 17 (Gant 4); Pepperdine 26 (Lane 6). Total Fouls -- ISU 14; Pepperdine 20. Fouled out -- none. Assists -- ISU 16 (Gant 4); Pepperdine 18 (Major 6). Turnovers -- ISU 7 (Cummings 2); Pepperdine 16 (Davis 5). Blocks -- ISU 2; Pepperdine 3. Steals -- ISU 10 (Brown 3); Pepperdine 2. Officials -- Corson, Paz Flannery.
Anchorage Daily News