St. Louis, Mo.- Wichita State (11-20, 4-15 MVC) made a second-half come back but fell, 71-67, to Indiana State (15-15, 9-10 MVC) in the first night of the Missouri Valley Tournament.

Freshman Aaron Ellis led the Shockers with career-highs in points (19) and rebounds (nine). P.J. Couisnard and Ramon Clemente added 10 points each.

Jay Tunnell and Gabe Moore topped the Sycamores with 18 points apiece, while Todd McCoy added 14 points. Marico Stinson and Harry Marshall also ended in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.

The Sycamores out-rebounded the Shockers 42-36 and shot 46.4 percent in the first half. Indiana State finished with 42.9 percent shooting and went 26-31 from the free throw line, compared to the Shockers' 12-9 effort.

Jay Tunnell and Gabe Moore topped the Sycamores with 18 points apiece, while Todd McCoy added 14 points.  Marico Stinson and Harry Marshall also ended in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.

The Sycamores out-rebounded the Shockers 42-36 and shot 46.4 percent in the first half.  Indiana State finished with 42.9 percent shooting and went 26-31 from the free throw line, compared to the Shockers' 12-9 effort.

Wichita State jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, before jumpers from Tunnell and Moore pulled ISU within one at 7-6.  The Shockers went back up 11-6 quickly after, but sophomore Stinson's 3-pointer and a layup by Moore tied the game at 11 with 12:19 left in the first half.

The Sycamores then went on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes, seven of which were scored by senior McCoy, to take a 20-13 lead.  However, the Shockers would not go away and went on a 12-4 run over the next five and half minutes to retake the lead at 25-24.  After a free throw by Clemente, WSU had a 26-24 lead before a jumper by Tunnell knotted the score at 26-26 with 2:36 left in the half.  Tunnell then scored the next five straight points for the Sycamores to give them a 31-26 lead and ISU maintained that five-point advantage and went to the locker room at halftime with a 33-28 lead over the Shockers.

ISU came out of the locker room on a roll and quickly jumped out to a 41-31 lead after a layup by Moore at the 16:18 mark.  Wichita State fought back and cut the lead to 41-38, before Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall picked up his second technical foul of the game at the 12:22 mark and was ejected for the first time in tournament history.  The Shockers were fired up and continued to cut the lead to 43-42 on a jumper by Phillip Thomasson with 11:24 to play.  Indiana State eventually widened its lead to 61-53 after a thunderous dunk from Tunnell and extended the lead to 10 after two free throws by Harry Marshall with 3:34 left in the game.

-Wichita State-