SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Drake University men's basketball team remained among the ranks of the undefeated Wednesday evening, holding off Missouri State, 78-73, at JQH Arena.
 
The win completed a two-game sweep of Missouri State to improve the Bulldogs to 15-0 this season and 6-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
"Coming off a three-week layoff, to come down here and get two wins is huge for us," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries.
 
A day after rallying from a 17-point deficit to win, Drake built up a 13-point lead Wednesday and then held off a 15-0 Missouri State run to prevail.
 
ShanQuan Hemphill led Drake with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting as one of four Bulldogs in double figures. Roman Penn had a big second half and finished with 18 points while D.J. Wilkins had 11 points and a pair of critical three-pointers in the final minutes.
 
"Tank [Hemphill] was really aggressive in the first half and was able to get downhill and get to the rim," DeVries said. "He played 40 minutes and it was an awesome effort for him."
 
Missouri State (9-3, 5-3 MVC) was paced by 20-point nights from Isiaih Mosley (23) and Gaige Prim (20) as both recorded double-doubles with 11 and 14 rebounds, respectively. Twelve of Prim's points came at the free-throw line while Mosley scored 21 of his points in the second half to lead the Bears' comeback.
 
"We put them on the free-throw line too much and we have to learn to stay aggressive without fouling," DeVries said. "We held Prim for a good chunk of the game and made his finishes tough. Mosley had a nice stretch and was a big part of their comeback, but to finish the game the defense really carried us."
 
Hemphill scored 18 of his points in the first half as Drake shot 51.5 percent in the first 20 minutes in stark contrast to Tuesday's game in which the Bulldogs faced a 17-point first-half deficit before prevailing.
 
Drake took a 13-point lead early in the second half and kept the lead at double-digits for much of the half until the 11:17 mark when MSU began its 15-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 63-61 with six minutes remaining. 
 
"I looked at our group and said 'this is what you're built for,'" DeVries said. "They're experience and leadership coming down the stretch was going to be what determined the outcome of this game. I thought they settled down and were able to make some big-time plays to finish the game."
 
Minutes later, Drake's Wilkins countered with his back-to-back three-pointers, followed by a Penn drive to put the Bulldogs up 71-67 with four minutes remaining. Mosley and Prim twice got the Bears back within two, but Drake answered each time with a Tremell Murphy dunk putting the finishing touches on the Bulldogs sweep in their first action since Jan. 4.
 
The 15-0 Bulldogs return to the Knapp Center Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 to host Illinois State for a two-game MVC series. A limited number of fans will be allowed inside the Knapp Center for the two contests. For more information on ticketing and attendance policies, visit DrakeTix.com.