Box Score DES MOINES, Iowa – Senior forward Chris Caird (Daventry, England) hit a game-winning three-pointer with 4.3 seconds remaining to help the Drake University men's basketball team defeat Southern Illinois, 63-61, Wednesday night at the Knapp Center.
With the win, Drake (7-16, 4-7 MVC) has its first three-game Missouri Valley Conference win-streak under second-year head coach Ray Giacoletti.
The Bulldogs trailed by one point, 61-60, with 11 seconds remaining when Giacoletti called timeout to draw up what would ultimately result in Caird's go-ahead three-pointer.
“The possession before we went with a cross-screen to our big and he got a great look,” Giacoletti said. “Jacob [Enevold] got a heck of a look—foot in the paint and a left-handed jump hook, just was a little bit short. So we thought, okay, well let's use Gary [Ricks] as a decoy. He was the first curl and then Jacob stepped up and back-picked Chris. The timing was impeccable, and Chris got a great look and knocked it down.”
Caird's game-winner was his fourth three-pointer of the night and one of Drake's 13 made three-point field goals, which is tied for the 10th-most in a single game in program history. The Bulldogs converted on 56.5 percent of their three-point attempts in the win.
“My teammates and coaches had confidence in me in the timeout and I knew that the ball was coming to me,” Caird said. “(Jacob) set a great screen and Karl [Madison] put (the pass) on the money for me.”
Drake found itself in a position to win late thanks to the play of freshman guard Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.), who converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:47 remaining to give the Bulldogs a brief four-point cushion. Timmer finished with 19 points to pace Drake and is now averaging 17.3 points per game over his last three contests.
“Now that it's February I think all of our roles have been established and we know what to get out of each guy every night,” Timmer said. “The comfort level is growing; the experience is growing. All of our teammates have confidence in me and I have confidence in them. Everybody knows their role and that's a great way to win.”
In Wednesday's victory, the Bulldogs also got double-figure scoring contributions from Caird and Gary Ricks, Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif.), who each hit four three-point field goals and finished with 12 points apiece.
Anthony Beane led the way for Southern Illinois (9-15, 2-9 MVC), scoring 16 of his 22 points in the first half as Madison clamped defensively in the second half. Deion Lavender pitched in 13 points for the Salukis.
Drake and SIU battled back-and-forth throughout the duration of Wednesday's game, with no team leading by more than six points over the course of 40 minutes. There were also nine ties and 13 lead changes.
“I don't know if we could have won that game a month ago,” Giacoletti said. “With the ebbs and flows, having to make a couple key stops and having to run two efficient sets a the (offensive) end.”
Next up on the docket for the Bulldogs is a date with top-15 UNI on Saturday evening at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the contest being televised over the air in Iowa on WOI 5.1, KCRG 9.2, CFU 15, KCAU 9.2 on cable/satellite on Comcast Sports Net Chicago and online via ESPN3.
