PEORIA, ILL. -- Drake managed to hold Bradley without a basket in the second overtime, but the Braves cashed in at the free throw line to hold off the Bulldogs, 77-75, in double overtime Saturday night in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season finale for both teams.

The Bulldogs saw an 11-point lead evaporate in the second half, made a three-point basket with nine seconds left to send the game into a second overtime before being victimized at the free throw line.

"It was disappointing to lose a game like this," said Drake coach Mark Phelps, whose team fell to 17-14, including a 7-11 league mark. "We had our chances but we can draw a lot of positives as we head into St. Louis"

The Bulldogs are seeded No. 8 in the State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.,  and will face No. 9 seed Indiana State in a 6 p.m. opening round test this Thursday.

Bradley missed all six field goal attempts in the second overtime period. But the Braves made up the difference by scoring all five of their points at the free throw line.

After a layup and free throw by guard Josh Parker  (Harvey, Ill.) enabled Drake to tie the game at 75-75 with 1:48 left in the second overtime, two free throws by Bradley's Sam Maniscalco with 1:16 remaining proved to be the difference in the game.
 
Drake had a chance to send the game into a third overtime but forward Jonathan Cox (Barrington, Ill.) missed a running 12-foot bank shot in the paint with four seconds left and his rebound jumper was blocked out of bounds with one second remaining.

A Drake inbounds pass with 0.5 seconds left was intercepted by Bradley to end the game.

Bradley finished the game hitting 25 of 29 free throws compared to Drake making six of 11 at the line.

"We couldn't make up the difference at the free throw line," Phelps added.

The Bulldogs didn't make their first free throw of the game until there was 4:43 left in the second overtime when guard Josh Young (Lawton, Okla.) sank two to give Drake a 62-60 lead.

The setback spoiled a pair of milestone achievements by Young and Cox.

Young scored a team-high 21 points, making four three point baskets to become the third player in Drake history to hit 200 career three-point baskets.

It marked the first time the junior had made three or more three-point baskets in a game since Dec. 13 against Stephen F. Austin  - a stretch covering 19 contests.

Young also moved into No. 9 on the Drake career scoring list with 1,302 points, surpassing Pop Wright who scored 1,283 points from 1978-81.

Cox, who played 48 minutes, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to move into No. 2 on the Drake career rebounding charts at 799.

Parker came off the bench to tally 17 points, including four three-point baskets.

Senior forward Brent Heemskerk (Grand Rapids, Mich.) collected his second career double-double with 10 points and a career-tying 10 rebounds.

Junior guard Craig Stanley (Plano, Texas) added nine points and nine    assists.

Stanley drove the baseline before finding Adam Templeton (Rapid City, S.D.) open on the right side where he hit a game-tying three-point basket with 8.4 seconds in the first overtime to tie the score at 72-72.

"All of our guys played with tremendous effort and laid it on the line," Phelps said. "We had a lot of poise making key plays under pressure."

A 15-foot jumper from the right wing by Stanley with two seconds left on the shot clock gave Drake a 60-58 lead with 1:07 left in regulation.

Templeton collected a rebound off a missed three-point shot by Maniscalco with 35.7 seconds left. The Braves committed three straight fouls to send Drake to the free throw line. The strategy worked as Parker missed the front end of a bonus situation with 32.6 seconds left.

A layup by Bradley's Sam Singh tied the score at 60-60 with 16.5 seconds left. Drake called a time out with 10.8 seconds to set up a final play but Parker missed a shot from the top of the key before the regulation buzzer sounded, sending the game into overtime.

Young and Parker combined for 23 points in the second half, helping Drake mount a double-digit lead. Parker's three-point basket with 12:50 left gave Drake a 48-37 lead.

Drake finished the game with 13 three-point baskets.

Young scored eight straight points, including back-to-back three-point baskets for Drake which turned a 30-29 early second-half deficit into a 37-30  lead.

The Bulldogs forced Bradley into four turnovers in the opening 4 minutes 10 seconds of the game, scoring all of their first eight points off the miscues to race to an 8-4 lead.

Drake's matchup zone defense held Bradley without a basket for 6:11 midway through the first half, taking advantage of the drought to enjoy a 19-10 advantage following a  three-point basket by Templeton with 9:12 left.

But the Braves worked their way back into the game courtesy of getting into the bonus free throw situation when Drake was whistled for its seventh foul with 6:39 left in the half.

Bradley sank five free throws during a 12-5 run which enabled it to tie the game for the first time at 24-24 following two charity tosses by Theron Wilson.

A three-point basket from the top of the key by Parker broke the tie en route to the Bulldogs enjoying a 29-28 lead at the intermission.

Cox, Parker and Young collected two steals apiece.