DES MOINES, Iowa - Five players scored in double figures for the Drake University men's basketball team in a 73-55 win over Southern Illinois Sunday night at the Knapp Center.
 
Drake (12-0, 3-0 MVC), which led the nation in wins going into the contest, extended its school-record start to the season. Shanquan Hemphill scored a team-high 17 points to go with seven rebounds and a career-high five steals. Several of Hemphill's steals led to highlight reel breakaway dunks.
 
D.J. Wilkins was next with 14 points helped by four three-pointers. Wilkins came into the game 10^th in the nation in three-point percentage at 52.7. Rounding out the double-digit group was Roman Penn with 11 points and Joseph Yesufu and Darnell Brodie who each scored 10 points.
 
SIU (7-2, 1-2 MVC) was paced by Lance Jones' game-high 18 points while Ben Harvey had 15 points. Sophomore Marcus Domask, the 2020 MVC Newcomer of the Year, was held to just five points well below his team-leading 18.1 average coming in.
 
After coming up empty on its first two possessions, Brodie scored the game's first points for Drake. Tremell Murphy followed with a steal that led to a short jumper by Penn to go up 4-0 and forced an early Salukis' timeout. SIU answered with four-straight three-pointers and forced a Bulldogs' timeout trailing 12-6.
 
SIU stretched its lead to 20-10 with 12:34 after a layup by Harvey. But a 7-0 run as part of a 10-2 surge capped by another basket by Brodie pulled Drake to just two points at 22-20 with 7:56 in the first half. Murphy's jumper followed by a Hemphill's layup gave Drake the lead back at 24-22.
 
After going nearly six minutes without a field goal, Jones made a three for SIU, to take the lead back briefly at 25-24. It was the final lead of the night for the Salukis as more defensive pressure by the Bulldogs helped them build a 33-25 lead.
 
Later, Yesufu hit a deep stepback three-pointer from the left wing with 11 seconds to send Drake to halftime with a 39-30 lead. It was the largest lead of the opening half for the Bulldogs who closed the half on a decisive 29-10 run. Hemphill had a team-high nine points while Penn had eight as seven total Bulldogs scored in the first half.
 
Harvey pulled SIU within eight at 59-51 with 7:01 to play, but Garrett Sturtz buried a corner three to answer and start a 14-0 run to help lead by as many as 22 points. The Bulldogs won nearly every statistical category, including shooting a blistering 50.9 percent from the floor, 45.0 percent from three and 80.0 percent from the free throw line.
 
The teams will rematch Monday night with a 6 p.m. tipoff at the Knapp Center. The game will be another national broadcast on CBS Sports Network.