Cooper Neese must’ve woken up with a big bowl of Wheaties this morning. The Senior from Cloverdale, Indiana has been a sharpshooter all year long for Indiana State and today was no different.

Neese exploded for 33 points while shooting 9 of 11 from behind the three point line as the Sycamores advanced with a thrilling 94-91 win over Belmont. 

Neese’s season high for the season was 19 points. That happened yesterday against Evansville. 

Indiana State’s usual star Courvoisier McCauley was quiet. The graduate student from Indianapolis finished with only 12 points. He did add 12 rebounds and was a strong presence defensively for the Sycamores.

McCauley’s teammate Cameron Henry did provide an offensive spark for Indiana State. Henry had 18 points in the first half, and finished with 25. 

And it was a good thing he did what he did, because Belmont’s offense was rolling right from the get-go. 

Freshman Cade Tyson led the way with 24 points. Keishawn Davison and Ja’Kobi Davidson also got into double figures for the Bruins with 18 and 14, respectively. Tyson missed a three pointer at the buzzer for a chance at the tie.

It was a shootout all game long with both teams trading buckets. Indiana State was never truly able to pull away from the other and each possession felt extremely valuable. 

Belmont put up 44 points in the first half but it was Indiana State that held a 49-44 lead at the break. 

Bruins star Ben Sheppard was held in check in the first half, only putting up 3 points while shooting 1-5 from the field. He bounced back in the second half, finishing the game with 19 points.

As the second half got under way, it was Neese that really started to take over the game for the Sycamores. He hit 4 three pointers before the under-16 media timeout to set the tone for their offense. 

The entire second half was just an offensive clinic from start to finish. The game truly felt like it was a race to 100 points, which makes sense for two offenses that have been dominant all year long. When these two squads met earlier in the year, it was Belmont that grabbed the one point win 89-88. 

With a back-and-forth game like this, we all know how these games end; with free throws. Indiana State went 14 of 18 from the charity stripe and iced the ending with makes from Xavier Bledson and Cameron Henry. 

The Sycamores now face the Bradley Braves in tomorrow’s semi-final. Coach Joseph Schertz has a chance to make the MVC Championship in his just his second year. That tips off at 2:30 pm here at Enterprise Center.