DES MOINES, Iowa – D. J. Wilkins hit a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left to give the Drake men's basketball team a dramatic 70-68 victory over Indiana State at the Knapp Center on Tuesday night.

"D.J. stepped into the moment and didn't hesitate," head coach Darian DeVries said. "We have had a lot of these games so far this year where we came up on the wrong side. Psychologically, it was important for us to come out with a close win in that fashion. Hopefully, it's something that can propel us moving forward."

Wilkins' timely trey saved the Bulldogs (16-6, 7-4 MVC) after they gave up an 18-point halftime lead and found themselves trailing 68-67 when Indiana State's Courvoisier McCauley buried a 3 with 17.6 seconds remaining.

Drake called an immediate timeout and then another with 11.2 seconds to go after getting the ball into the frontcourt. Tucker DeVries, who led the Bulldogs with 21 points, drove into the lane and missed a close-in bank shot, but the ball was tipped out to Wilkins at the top of the key and he buried the game winner, sending the Sycamores (13-9, 6-5) to their fifth straight loss.

"I just wanted to get to the top of the key to give myself a chance," Wilkins said. "Somebody got a hand on it to tip it to the top. I missed a couple of shots earlier, but knew I could square my feet and knock it down."

Roman Penn added 16 points for the Bulldogs, including three clutch baskets during a 73-second stretch to keep Indiana State temporarily at bay. Wilkins finished with 11 points, including three treys, and Garrett Sturtz had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his 14^th career double-double and fifth this season.

Darnell Brodie had six points and Connor Enright contributed three points, four steals and three rebounds off the bench. Nate Ferguson also provided some valuable minutes off the bench, grabbing five rebounds, scoring two points, blocking a shot and making a steal.

Robbie Avila, a 6-foot-10 freshman, reached a career high for the second straight game, scoring 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds. McCauley finished with 19 points, 13 in the second half.

The Bulldogs were sharp throughout the first half and it seemed unlikely then that the game would come down to a final shot.

DeVries canned two straight 3s, the second on a pass from Wilkins, and D.J. followed with a 3 of his own for a 13-6 lead. When Enright nailed one from distance, the Bulldogs led 16-10. After Indiana State trimmed the lead to 16-15, Drake held the Sycamores scoreless for the next 6 minutes and rattled off 15 straight points to open a 29-15 lead.

The lead grew to 34-18 when Penn fed Wilkins for a 3 from the top of the key and the Bulldogs controlled things for the rest of the half, leading 44-26 going into the break on a step-back 15-footer by DeVries.

DeVries finished the half with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting, getting most of his points driving into the lane and hitting tough fadeaways in traffic. Indiana State cut off those paths to the basket in the second half and clawed back.

The Sycamores scored the first five points of the second half and that seemed to give them a shot of confidence. They kept whittling away and whittling away while the Bulldogs were misfiring – Drake shot just 33 percent in the second half – and finally pulled even at 63 on McCauley's two free throws with 3:09 left.

DeVries countered with a jumper fading to his right and Penn banked in a runner, putting the Bulldogs back up at 67-63 with 1:13 to go. But the Sycamores rallied again, McCauley scoring on a drive and then knocking down his go-ahead 3-pointer, setting the stage for Wilkins' big moment.

Drake shot 51.6 percent in the first half, then started 1-for-8 in the second half and it was a struggle the rest of the way. Indiana State shot 52 percent in outscoring the Bulldogs 42-26 in the final 20 minutes after making just 9-of-28 shots in the opening half.

The Bulldogs hit the road for their next game, making their first visit as a conference opponent to Belmont on Sunday, Jan. 29. Game time is 2 p.m.

TEAM NOTES
•Drake outscored the Sycamores 44-26 in first half for their eighth 40+ point first half of the season.
•Drake, which won its second-consecutive game, improved its record to 16-6 overall and 7-4 in MVC play.
•This season, Drake is 3-4 in games decided by five points or less.
•The Bulldogs scored just five bench points but still outscored Indiana State 5-4 in reserve play.
•Drake out-rebounded Indiana State 34-32, improving its record this season to 13-1.
•Drake, which owned a 44-26 halftime lead, also improved to 12-3 this season when leading at half.
•Drake is 3-0 playing on Tuesday this season.
•Drake is now 10-1 at home this season.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•This marked the seventh time this season four players have scored in double figures for Drake with the Bulldogs winning going 6-1 in those games.
•Tucker DeVries scored a team-high 21 points, including 17 in the first half and overtime.
•DeVries logged his fourth-straight 20-plus scoring game and 12th of the season.
•Guard Roman Penn added 16 points — his second-straight double-figure scoring game of the season 11th of the year.
•Penn improved his school career assists mark to 539 assists. 
•Graduate guard D.J. Wilkins sunk the game-winning three-pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining.
•Wilkins, along with Garrett Sturtz, scored 11 points to round out the Bulldogs' double-digit scorers.
•Sturtz grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double and sixth double-digit rebounding effort of the year.
•Sturtz also closed in further on the Drake all-time rebounding record and is now just three boards from passing Melvin Mathis who grabbed 854 from 1982-86.
 
The Series
•Drake's win moved them in front of Indiana State by a narrow 49-48 margin in the all-time series. 32 of the Bulldogs' wins have come in Des Moines.
•Drake has won six straight games over Indiana State in Des Moines.