DES MOINES, IOWA - Senior Ryan Wedel (Minneapolis, Kan./Minneapolis) broke out of a scoring drought with a 17-point performance, but in the end his heroics weren't enough to lift Drake to victory as Indiana State escaped the Knapp Center with a 62-57 triumph on Sunday (Jan. 9).

The setback dropped the Bulldogs' record to 7-9 overall, including 2-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while improving the Sycamores' ledger to 9-7 and 4-1 in league play.

Staring at its largest deficit of the contest, 53-44, with 6:14 remaining, Drake ignited a furious comeback that placed the Bulldogs in a position to tie or go ahead in the game's final minute.

Drake's defensive efforts held Indiana State without a field goal from the 8:34 mark until a jumper from Jake Odum with 1:54 left on the clock provided Indiana State with a 57-53 advantage.

A pair of free throws by sophomore Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark./Rogers) inched the Bulldogs to within two, 57-55, before Odum hit another jumper with 1:07 showing on the clock to make the score 59-55.

After a 30-second timeout by the Bulldogs, freshman Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) delivered a layup in the lane to cut Drake's deficit to two, 59-57, with 51 seconds remaining.

The Bulldogs seemingly had a defensive stop on the other end of the floor after an errant three pointer by Jordan Printy, but Isiah Martin was able to sneak into the lane to corral the offensive rebound and draw the foul.

Martin split a pair of free throws to give Drake a chance to tie the game with 16 seconds left in the affair.

Following a timeout, the Bulldogs got the ball into the hands of Rice, who attempted a three pointer from the far-left corner that failed to fall and the Sycamores' Steve McWhorter came down with the defensive rebound.

McWhorter drained both his shots at the charity stripe to give Indiana State what proved to be the final 62-57 margin.  Wedel's jumper as time expired didn't connect.

For the second-consecutive contest Drake outshot its opponent, 42.6 percent to 38.8 percent, but the Sycamores parlayed a 34-25 rebounding advantage into a victory.

Wedel led all scorers with 17 points, while Rice joined him in double figures with a 12-point effort.

Carl Richard's 17-point, 11-rebound performance sparked Indiana State, while Aaron Carter and Martin added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Sycamores controlled the game early jumping out to an 8-0 advantage before the Bulldogs cracked the scoring column with a pair of free throws from Rice.

Drake slowly chipped away at the deficit on the strength of eight and seven first-half points from Wedel and Rice, respectively, and entered halftime tied with Indiana State, 24-24, after Wedel's three pointer with seven seconds left in the half.

The Bulldogs connected on 34.8 percent of their attempts in the first 20 minutes, while holding the Sycamore's high-powered attack to a 32.1 percent shooting mark.

The two sides exchanged baskets to begin the final stanza before Indiana State used a 7-0 run to assume a 37-30 lead with 14:30 left in the game.

Back-to-back baskets from Wedel and sophomore Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) cut the margin to 37-35.

The Sycamores registered eight of the next 10 points to their lead to 45-37 with 11:33 remaining.

A 5-0 run, all at the free throw line by Drake cut the margin to 45-42.

The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday (Jan. 12) with a road test at Evansville.  Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.