By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Playing in a hostile environment on the road, the Green Bay men's basketball team used a 9-0 late to take a 54-50 lead over Indiana State (4-0), but the host Sycamores rallied and hit a go-ahead three with 15 seconds left to hand the Phoenix (2-3) a 57-56 loss in non-conference basketball action at the Hulman Center.

"It was a great basketball game with high-level competition. I have a great amount of respect for coach Greg Lansing and Indiana State," said head coach Brian Wardle of the Indiana State team that appeared in the NCAA Tournament a season ago. "That is a very good team we just played. I thought we competed and did enough to win the game, but when it comes down to it with our young team, we have to care of the ball and execute down the stretch."

A trio of three-pointers, including two from senior Steve Baker (St. Paul, Minn.), completed a Phoenix comeback and made it 54-50 after the visitors trailed by as many as eight in the second half. The Sycamores closed to 56-54 and missed a three-pointer with 22 seconds left that junior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) rebounded for Green Bay.

A trio of three-pointers, including two from senior Steve Baker (St. Paul, Minn.), completed a Phoenix comeback and made it 54-50 after the visitors trailed by as many as eight in the second half. Baker made 6-of-10 shots, including 3-of-4 from long range, to lead all scorers with 15 points while adding three steals and two assists.  

"I was open and my teammates did a good job finding me, and I tried to step up and make big shots," said Baker.

The Sycamores closed to 56-54 and missed a three-pointer with 22 seconds left that junior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) rebounded for Green Bay. Cougill missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Jordan Printy answered on the other end with a triple from the right wing to give the Sycamores the lead with 15 ticks on the clock.

The Phoenix appeared to take the lead on its next possession, but before Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) scored on a layup on a broken play, Wardle was awarded a timeout with 6.7 seconds to play. Wardle drew up a play that got Brown a 13-foot jumper near the left elbow, but the 7-foot-1 center's shot hit off the back rim.

"We had our chance. We had free throws. We got the shot we wanted with Alec Brown at the end.  They didn't go in, and Printy made a heck of a shot. When it comes down to a close game, it is usually one and lost with big plays, and Indiana State made the big plays and we didn't."

Getting eight points off the bench from sophomore Terry Johnson (Chicago, Ill.), Green Bay trailed 34-32 going into halftime of its fifth game in 11 days. Johnson finished with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Phoenix. Cougill added 10 points off the Green Bay bench, hitting 2-of-3 three-pointers.

Brown failed to reach double figures for the first time in 2011-12 and ended a streak of 10-straight double-digit efforts. He finished with seven points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

With three games in a row decided by eight points or less and with a stretch of five games in 11 days in its rearview mirror, Baker and the Phoenix hope to be gaining confidence heading into another challenging stretch.

"Right now we are so young that we need to get experience, and that is what we are doing right now," said Baker. "It is early, but coach said it in the locker that we play these tough games early so we are ready later in the season. Every day we are getting more and more confident."

Green Bay begins a five-game stretch which includes Virginia, Marquette and Wisconsin and its first two Horizon League contests on Friday when the Phoenix heads to Charlottesville, Va., to face Virginia on Friday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. CT. The contest against UVa and its head coach Tony Bennett, Green Bay's all-time leading scorer, will be televised live by ESPNU.

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