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ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The last time Indiana State won a conference championship, someone named Larry Bird led them to the title. Kelyn Block scored 21 points and Matt Renn added 16 as fifth-seeded Indiana State won its first Missouri Valley Conference title since 1979 with a 69-63 triumph over second-seeded Bradley. "When they play well, they can play with a lot of teams," Indiana State coach Royce Waltman said about his team, which defeated Indiana, Butler and Creighton during the season. The Sycamores (21-11) had won the regular-season title a year ago but were upset in the semifinals of the MVC tournament by eventual champion Creighton. They did receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, where they were beaten by Texas, 77-61. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Michael Menser gave Indiana State a 49-36 lead with just under 11 minutes left. Bradley would not go away and climbed within 57-51 on a three-point play by Eddie Cage with five minutes to play. But Sycamores freshman Marcus Howard nailed a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down with 2:03 to go for a 62-53 lead and Indiana State never looked back. "We definitely knew we were the best team of the conference," Menser, the tournament's Most Outstanding player, said. "We just want people to know that Indiana State basketball is back. Our goal was to get into the (NCAA) Tournament, but we're not done." Menser finished with 15 points while Renn and Djibril Kante each grabbed eight rebounds. Kante also had five blocks for Indiana State, which became the lowest seed ever to capture the MVC tournament. The Sycamores had already defeated fourth-seeded Southern Illinois and top-seeded Creighton on their way to the championship game. Bradley (19-11) was led by Cage, who scored a career-high 20 points. Andre Corbitt added 10 points for the Braves, who were in search of their first MVC title since 1988. "I have to give Indiana State credit," Bradley coach Jim Molinari said. "We didn't play with patience. We started out really strong defensively, then we got real tentative because we got into foul trouble in the first half." Freshman Phillip Gilbert, who was named to the all-tournament team, scored just nine points but grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for Bradley. The Braves held a 46-33 rebounding edge, including 15 by Jeffrey Rabey. "Certainly I think we're an NIT team," Molinari said. "We finished second and we went to the championship game. But that's not really what we wanted." The Braves had the better of play early and held a 19-10 lead with just over eight minutes left in the first half. But Indiana State scored 21 of the final 28 points for a 31-26 lead at halftime.
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