DES MOINES, IOWA -- Drake junior guard Josh Young (Lawton, Okla.) missed a free throw with 0.2 seconds left allowing Southern Illinois to spoil the Bulldogs' home finale, 56-55, Wednesday night.

With Southern Illinois clinging to a 56-54 lead, guard Ryan Hare missed the front end of a bonus free throw situation with 6.7 seconds.

Drake's Bill Eaddy (Ypsilanti, Mich.) grabbed the rebound. Young, taking a pass from teammate Craig Stanley (Plano, Texas), penetrated inside the left paint where he was fouled by Carlton Fay.

Young, who ranks third in the Missouri Valley Conference in free throw percentage (.855), sank the first free throw.

Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery elected to take a time out before Young missed the second shot which would have sent the game into overtime.

The Bulldogs, who lead the MVC in scoring defense, wasted a good defensive effort in holding the Salukis to 36.8 percent shooting from the floor.

Drake shot a season-low 27.8 percent, suffering through two scoring droughts that each lasted more than six minutes.

Forward Jonathan Cox (Barrington, Ill.), who was one of five seniors making their final home appearance at the Drake Knapp Center, collected a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds.

Cox tied a career high by drilling five three-point baskets, while tying a season high with three blocked shots.

Fay, who had made just one of nine shots from the floor, drilled a three-point basket with 1:45 left to give the Salukis a 54-51 lead.

After Josh Parker (Harvey, Ill.) missed a three-point shot on Drake's next possession, the Bulldogs sent Hare to the free-throw line but he missed the front end of a bonus free throw situation with 1:29 left.

Drake then had two opportunities to cut the deficit, but Parker missed a three-point shot as well as a layup.

Southern Illinois' Justin Bocot collected the rebound with 1:05 left. The Salukis called a time out with 48 seconds left but then Bocot was called for traveling with 32 seconds remaining.

From there Southern Illinois elected to foul Drake's players in the waning seconds before they could take a shot.

Young made two free throws with 13 seconds left pulling Drake within 54-53. The Bulldogs fouled freshman guard Kevin Dillard when he was receiving the inbounds pass.

The freshman made both free throws with 12 seconds left to push the Salukis lead to 56-53.

Stanley was fouled on the ensuing possession with eight seconds left but only made one of two free throws to pull Drake within 56-54.

After a three-point basket by Cox gave Drake an 8-5 lead with 16:57 left, the Bulldogs would go the next eight minutes  31 seconds without a basket.

Southern Illinois took advantage going on 12-2 run to enjoy 17-10 lead. A hook shot by Adam Templeton (Rapid City, S.D.) with 8:26 left ended Drake's drought while triggering a 7-0 run that allowed the Bulldogs to tie score at 17-17.

Drake also went the last 3:33 of the first half without scoring, while watching the dry spell continue into the opening 3:32 of the second period.

That enabled Southern Illinois to turn a 26-25 lead into a 36-25 advantage with 16:59 left in the game.

Drake head coach Mark Phelps inserted all five seniors into the starting lineup with Jacob Baryenbruch (Spring Green, Wis.) at point guard, John Michael Hall (Moultrie, Ga.) at guard along with Cox,  Brent Heemskerk (Grand Rapids and Alex White (Albuquerque,N.M.) at forwards.

Stanley added 14 points for Drake, hitting eight of 10 free throws.

Young finished with eight points to move into the No. 10 spot on the Drake career scoring list with 1,281 points surpassing Gus Guydon who scored 1,277 points from 1958-61.