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The best season in Indiana State basketball history since Larry Bird was on campus ended Thursday night with a gutting 79-77 loss to Seton Hall at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the NIT championship game.
The defeat came after the Pirates scored nine unanswered points in the final 2:45 to pull off the comeback victory in what was effectively a road game for them. And it took a visible toll on the man who has become the face of the Sycamores’ resurgence this season.
REQUIRED READING: Indiana State’s ‘throwback team’ captured imagination of community, country with NIT run
Robbie Avila, Indiana State’s bespectacled first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference forward, was doubled over with his hands on his knees in the seconds after what would have been a game-winning 3-pointer bounced off the front rim.
As Avila was hunched over, Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway — who in 2022 led 15 seed Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight — came over to him, literally lifted Avila’s chin up and offered him words of encouragement while tapping him on the chest before the two dapped up.
This is bigger than basketball, and what it’s really about. Shaheen Holloway telling Robbie Avila to keep his head up is the best thing you will see today:
pic.twitter.com/c28ycKbpMP
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) April 5, 2024
“I told him, ‘There’s no need to have your head down. You guys played a heck of a game. You guys got a great team. You guys battled,’” Holloway said after the game. “This was a championship game. A bunch of punches going back and forth, and just told him to pick his head up. He’s a great player and he’s got a lot of basketball to be played.”
The wholesome moment came after a thrilling, hard-fought contest featuring two of the top three teams left out of the NCAA Tournament field, squads that showed over the past two weeks that they probably should have been among the 68 teams to make the Big Dance.
Avila had a characteristically well-rounded performance, with 13 points, five rebounds and…
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Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star
Publish date : 2024-04-05 16:05:50
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