YPSILANTI, MICH. - A pair of free throws by junior Frank Wiseler (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg/Urspringschule) with nine seconds remaining lifted Drake to a 58-54 victory over Eastern Michigan on Wednesday (Dec. 8).

The Bulldogs improved to 3-4 with the triumph, while the Eagles dropped to 1-7 overall.

Sophomore Seth VanDeest (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) and freshman Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) led Drake with 13 points apiece, while senior Ryan Wedel (Minneapolis, Kan./Minneapolis) added 10 points.

Turning in a seven-point, nine-rebound performance in his first start of the season was sophomore Reece Uhlenhopp (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) to go along with eight and five points, respectively, from Wiseler and junior Kraidon Woods (Henryville, Pa./Pocono Mountain East).

Brandon Bowdry paced the Eagles with a 25-point, 10-rebound effort.

After falling behind to begin the game, 5-3, Drake scored nine unanswered points, all by Rice and 17 of the next 19 to assume a 20-7 lead with 10:20 left in the half.

Compounding the problems for the Eagles was an opportunistic Bulldog' defense that held Eastern Michigan without a field goal for 5:31 before a basket by Bowdry with 9:38 left before halftime made the score 20-9.

The Eagles chipped into the advantage with a 10-1 run to cut Drake's lead to 21-17 before a running one-hander by Wedel with 6:12 left ended the run.

Unfortunately Eastern Michigan kept coming and cut the Bulldogs' margin to 25-23 on a lay-up by Bowdry with 2:31 remaining in the half.

After a basket by Rice gave Drake a 27-23 advantage, the Eagles used a 5-0 run to go up 28-27 before a tip-in at the buzzer by Woods sent the Bulldogs into the half leading 29-28.

The biggest indicator of Eastern Michigan's ability to remain in the game was fouls as Drake was whistled for 12 first-half fouls to just five for the Eagles.  Eastern Michigan converted those fouls into 10 points.

The Bulldogs shot 46 percent in the initial stanza to a 39 percent shooting mark for the Eagles. Bowdry led all scorers in the first 20 minutes with 18 points, while Rice added 11 for Drake.

Fueled by an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of nifty fast-break baskets from Wiseler, the Bulldogs extended a one-point affair, 34-33, into a 42-33 second-half advantage before Eastern Michigan ended a 5:16 scoreless streak with a three pointer from Derek Thompson with 12:44 left in the game.

Following a pair of free throws by Bowdry to cut the lead to 48-44, Drake scored four unanswered tallies to assume a 52-44 advantage.

Eastern Michigan cut the lead to three, 54-51, with a pair of free throws by Antonio Green with 1:26 remaining.

A fast-break lay-up from Rice with 32 seconds left gave Drake a 56-51 lead, but Bowdry nailed a three from the corner to bring the Eagles to within two, 56-54.

Wiseler's heroics sealed the victory for the Bulldogs to snap a three-game losing streak.

Drake finished the affair shooting 45.7 percent, while Eastern Michigan registered a .354 shooting mark.  The Bulldogs committed only eight turnovers in the game.