CARBONDALE, Ill.--The Drake Bulldogs won their fourth consecutive game, and second in a row on the road, 75-68 in overtime Wednesday at Southern Illinois. Junior Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich.) led the team with 20 points, and the Bulldogs got 18 points from sophomore Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill.) and 16 off the bench from Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark.).
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Drake moves to 12-7 with the win, 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, holding onto third place alone now after Missouri State's loss to Creighton. Southern Illinois is now 6-13, 3-5 in the MVC. The Bulldogs claimed their sixth win in a row over the Salukis, and fourth consecutive at SIU Arena.
It was Simons' third 20-point game in the last four outings. Rice, who had just two points at halftime, scored nine points in the second half and seven in the overtime session after it was tied 63-63 at the end of regulation.
The overtime was Drake's first since Jan. 30, 2011 at Illinois State, when it was defeated 77-75 after a last-second game-winning three-pointer by Kurt Alexander was disallowed upon review. It was Drake's first overtime win since Jan. 22, 2008 at Creighton, 68-60.
"In the second half I thought both teams competed at a high level," said head coach Mark Phelps. "We had some guys step, guys that have typically done that for us: Ben Simons and Rayvonte Rice, and we also had Aaron Hawley step up for us when we needed it."
The game was tied 14 times and the lead changed 18 times.
The Bulldogs led 61-57 with 2:42 to play after a layup by Hawley that followed a steal by Rice. Southern Illinois answered with a three-pointer by Kendal Brown-Surles to start a 6-0 run that put the Salukis ahead 63-61 with 45 seconds remaining.
Rice, who had begun to take over the game down the stretch, drove the right side of the lane and was fouled with 30 seconds to play. He made both free throws to create the 63-63 tie, and Drake used good defense to force a hurried jumper from just inside the top of the key as the horn sounded to end regulation.
Southern Illinois scored the first point of overtime when Jeff Early made the first of two free throws and missed the second. Drake then scored the next four points on Rice's 1-2 trip to the free-throw line, followed by a steal and three-point play from Rice to build a 67-64 lead.
With Drake leading 69-68 in overtime, Rice drove the lane and avoided traffic to finish with a tremendous reverse layup for a 71-68 lead, and the Bulldogs sealed it from the line from there. Rice and Simons each made a pair of free throws to produce the final score of 75-68. The Bulldogs shot 8-10 from the line in overtime.
The Bulldogs shot 47.1% from the field (24-51), including 43.8% from three-point range (7-16), while Southern Illinois shot 39.7% (23-58), including 23.5% from three (4-17). The Bulldogs were 20-27 from the free-throw line (74.1%), and the Salukis 18-26 (69.2%).
Rice added a team-high seven rebounds to his 18 points, and tied his career for steals with five, matching his total from the game at Creighton on Jan. 3, 2012.
Southern Illinois outrebounded Drake 39-32, including an 18-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. Two Salukis produced double-doubles, with the MVC's second-leading rebounder Mamadou Seck scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and Early recording 15 points and 11 boards.
Simons, the reigning MVC Player of the Week, was 7-for-11 from the field, including 3-6 from three-point range, his 12th time this season with three or more triples and seventh time in the last nine games.
Drake travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Sunday to take on Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPNU.
