DES MOINES, IOWA -- Senior guard Josh Young (Lawton, Okla.) netted a team-high 18 points, while senior forward Adam Templeton (Rapid City, S.D.) collected his fourth career double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds as the Drake men's basketball team earned its third straight Missouri Valley Conference victory with a 69-59 decision against Illinois State in a nationally televised game on ESPNU Sunday night.

For the second straight game Drake got out of the starting gate fast, constructing a 20-point lead in the first half.

"I'm very proud of our basketball team, especially our veterans because they really stepped up," said Drake coach Mark Phelps whose team improved to 8-11, including a 3-4 league mark.

"We're improving incrementally on the defensive end," Phelps added. "And really that's where our focus is. And guys are starting to hit shots."

Illinois State struggled from the opening tip, making just one of its first 12 shots from the floor.

The Bulldogs, playing without the services of senior starting point guard Craig Stanley (Plano, Texas) who is sidelined indefinitely with an injury to his right wrist, jumped to a 9-2 lead behind five points from junior transfer guard Ryan Wedel. (Minneapolis, Kan.)

Two three-point baskets by Templeton triggered a 12-2 run that turned a 13-6 Drake advantage into a 25-8 cushion.

Young then closed out the first half with consecutive baskets to give Drake a 35-15 lead. Drake enjoyed a 51-29 halftime lead in its previous game against Missouri State last Tuesday.

"We got excellent shots in the first half, but then we got distracted on the other end," said Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich, whose team fell to 13-5, including a 4-3 league mark. "We made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes and we had a number of breakdowns."

A three-point basket by Wedel gave Drake its biggest lead of the game at 40-15 with 18:06 left.

Wedel finished with 15 points and five rebounds.

Young moved into fifth on the Drake career scoring with 1,554 points, surpassing Lynnrick Rogers who scored 1,546 from 1993-97.

Drake, which leads the MVC in three-point baskets, averaging 8.8 per game, made nine three-point baskets.

Templeton tied a season high with four three-point baskets - all in the first half.  He has 34 treys this season - one shy of his entire 2008-09 output of 35.

He grabbed six rebounds in the game's opening 6 minutes 37 seconds, surpassing his entire previous game output of five boards against Missouri State.

Young, who played some minutes at point guard with the absences of Stanley, collected six assists and four rebounds.

"Josh did a great job," Phelps added. "That's the first time playing point guard for us. When you're a senior and you're the leader of the team, you have to step up.

"He did that at the free throw line, he did that getting big baskets, and he did that taking care of the basketball at a position we threw him into a day ago."

Illinois State senior guard Osiris Eldridge, the league's scorer leader, was scoreless in the first half missing five shots.

Eldridge exploded for a game-high 26 points in the second half, hitting six three-point attempts.

A three-point basket by reserve senior Bill Eaddy (Ypsilanti, Mich.) gave Drake a 60-41 lead with 2:39 left.

But Illinois State outscored Drake, 18-9, to close out the game.

"We're going to need to finish defensively the way we've started the past few games," Phelps added. "But with a player like Eldridge on the floor, once he gets going, he's hard to deal with."

Drake shot 45.1 percent from the floor, making 23 of 51 shots. Illinois State hit just 36.8 percent, canning 21 of 57 shots.

Sophomore guard Frank Wiseler (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg) made his second start for Drake, replacing Stanley in the lineup. Wiseler played 31 minutes scoring five points.

"We needed Frank to give us minutes which he did tonight," said Phelps. "Under the circumstances, he was able to do a good job."

The Bulldogs travel to Evansville Wednesday.