DES MOINES, Iowa - Illinois State became just the second visiting team to escape the Knapp Center with a victory this season in a 69-55 win over the Drake University men's basketball team Wednesday evening.
 
The Redbirds (13-9, 6-3 MVC) used a second-half surge and 22 points from Phil Fayne to push past the Bulldogs.
 
Drake (16-6, 5-4 MVC) was led by Nick McGlynn's (Stoughton, Wis.) 15 points and seven rebounds while Tremell Murphy (Griffith, Ind.) added 11 points. The Bulldogs' high-scoring offense was held in check by the Redbirds with the Bulldogs' second-fewest points of the season on 40.4 percent shooting with just six three-pointers.
 
"I thought we came out with great energy with an unbelievable crowd and the student section was tremendous," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "They [Illinois State] did a good job mixing it up, and we were a little stagnant. Everything was on the front of the rim, and it was one of those nights where we couldn't get anything going and had no flow."
 
Drake opened the game with a 12-4 lead and held the lead until Illinois State tied the contest at 19-19 with 7:13 left in the half. Four minutes later, a Fayne layup gave the Redbirds their first lead of the night and ISU did not relinquish that lead the rest of the night.
 
The Redbirds opened the second half on a 13-3 run to take a 14-point, 45-31, lead five minutes into the second half and never let the Bulldogs challenge that lead.
 
"We couldn't stay in it long enough to give ourselves a chance to make a run," DeVries said. "We weren't ourselves tonight for some reason and Illinois State showed why they're one of the best teams in the league."
 
The Redbirds continued to exhaust Drake's comeback efforts by stretching the lead to more than 20 in the final five minutes to cruise to the win in the Knapp Center.
 
Drake takes to the road next looking for a bounce-back win Saturday afternoon at Indiana State.