CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Drake University men's basketball team jumped out to a 16-point lead and held off a furious second-half rally from SIU to earn a 70-67 road win at SIU Arena Dec. 28.
 
Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) led Drake (8-7, 2-0 MVC) with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting to help the Bulldogs win their first road game in nearly 11 months while Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) added 17 points and seven rebounds. Timmer's 20-point game was his third in seven career games against the Salukis.
 
 C.J. Rivers (Cahokia, Ill.) added his usual unheralded line of eight rebounds, two assists and two steals along with his six points for the victorious Bulldogs.
 
"I was proud how we jumped on them [SIU] and we knew they were going to make a run," said Drake head coach Niko Medved. "Our guys battled on the glass and our defense has won these first two Valley games for us."
 
As a team, Drake shot 42.6 percent while committing just eight turnovers and limiting SIU to 39.4 percent shooting.

The Salukis (9-6, 1-1 MVC) were led by Armon Fletcher's 15 points and 12 rebounds while Kavion Pippen posted eight points and seven rebounds.
 
Drake led by as many as 14 points with 5:20 left in the second half on a Graham Woodward (Edina, Minn.) jumper, but the Salukis clawed back with an 18-6 spurt to pull within two points, 69-67, with 44 seconds left on an Aaron Cook three-pointer. The Bulldogs missed two attempts to extend their lead, but forced a critical SIU miss with 14 seconds left and Rivers hauled in the rebound before passing it off to Woodward who was promptly fouled. The senior drained a free throw to extend Drake's lead to 70-67 and SIU's last-second heave rattled out to secure the Bulldogs' first MVC road win since Jan. 24, 2017.
 
"We've been in a lot of close games and it was nice to see us find a way to win," Medved added.
 
The Bulldogs built up a 36-26 halftime lead thanks to an early 9-0 run to take a quick 9-2. Drake later stretched that lead to as many 16 points at 32-16 via a 16-4 surge. Timmer scored 12 of his 14 first-half points during a five-minute span to help the Bulldogs build up that lead. SIU chipped away at that margin and scored eight of the final 10 points of the half to trim the margin to 10 points, 36-26 at halftime. That late flurry bumped SIU's shooting percentage up to 38.1 percent as the Bulldogs held the Saluki shooters at bay in the opening half.
 
The Bulldogs return to the Knapp Center with a 2-0 mark in MVC action Jan. 3 to host Illinois State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The contest is also Dollar Night at the Knapp Center with advance tickets and concessions available for $1. Visit DrakeTix.com to secure $1 tickets.