The top-seeded Indiana State Sycamores take on the No. 8 seed Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the College Basketball Invitational at noon Monday at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Sycamores defeated South Carolina Upstate, 67-62, in the first round Saturday. The Colonels knocked off Cleveland State, 91-75, on Sunday but needed overtime to do it.

Indiana State had a far tougher time than expected in getting past USC Upstate. The Sycamores trailed 19-10 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. They took their first lead of the game at 21-20 with 7:09 left before halftime. ISU led 35-34 at halftime but immediately lost the lead to start the second half.

It was a back-and-forth battle from there on with neither team leading by more than five points before the Sycamores went up 52-45 with 13:02 remaining. Indiana State’s biggest lead was 12 points, 63-51, with 7:19 left. USC Upstate climbed back into it to trail 65-62 with 3:08 to play, but the Spartans’ comeback fell short.

Indiana State hit 44.6% of its shots, making 25-of-56, and 36% (9-of-25) from three-point range. USC Upstate had eight steals and nine blocks, compared to the Sycamores’ five steals and three blocks. Courvoisier McCauley led Indiana State with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Cameron Henry added 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Sycamores (23-12) are playing in a postseason tournament for the first time since 2014. Prior to Saturday, the Missouri Valley Conference team had not won a postseason game since 2001. Indiana State averaged 78.7 points per game this season, which ranked 30th in the country. The Sycamores were decent on defense this year, giving up 68.9 ppg.

Eastern Kentucky led for most of the first half and did not trail at all until Cleveland State went ahead 27-26 with 4:43 to go before halftime. The Vikings increased their lead to six points but went into the break leading by only two, 34-32.

Cleveland State had its largest lead of the game, 56-43, with 10:29 remaining, but the Colonels fought back and went ahead 74-72 with 30 seconds to go. The Vikings tied it up 10 seconds later, and Eastern Kentucky missed twice in the final five seconds of regulation. It was all Eastern Kentucky in overtime as Cleveland State went 0-for-8 in the extra period.

The Colonels shot 49.3%, making 37-of-75 from the field, and hit 7-of-19 three-point attempts (36.8%). They were just 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the free-throw line. Devontae Blanton had a game-high 22 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Isaiah Cozart was spectacular at both ends of the court with 20 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks while not committing a single foul.

Eastern Kentucky is 21-13 overall and finished 12-6 in the ASUN Conference. The Colonels were second in the ASUN in scoring at 77.4 points per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents averaged 71.6 points per game. The Colonels made just 65.8% of their free-throw attempts.

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