DES MOINES,  Iowa – Roman Penn scored 28 points, four teammates also reached double figures and the Drake men's basketball team needed every bit of that production to beat Northern Iowa 88-81 in two overtimes at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night, lifting the Bulldogs into a four-way tie for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The largest Drake men's basketball crowd of the season --  6,229 – saw the two state rivals hook up in their third straight overtime game. The Bulldogs (18-6, 9-4 MVC) survived the last-second heroics of UNI's Bowen Born to win their fourth straight game and pull into a tie for the lead with Belmont, Southern Illinois and Bradley.

"It was an awesome crowd and awesome game," head coach Darian DeVries said. "I thought both teams competed extremely hard and made winning plays. It was one of those games that someone had to win. We were fortunate that we were able to come out on top."

It was victory No. 113 for coach Darian DeVries, tying him for second place with E.O. (Bill) Williams on Drake's career win list.
This one did not come easily.

Born swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into the first overtime tied at 64, then did it again to tie it at 74 and produce the second overtime.
Tucker DeVries, back in action after missing Sunday's victory at Belmont with an elbow infection, hit at 3 at the start of the second extra session and the Bulldogs held the lead the rest of the way.

Penn scored on a drive for an 81-78 lead and DeVries converted a three-point play after battling for an offensive rebound, putting the Bulldogs up 84-78 with 1:31 left.
Born followed with a three-point play of his own on a driving layup, but that was the last time he stung the Bulldogs. Penn sank two free throws to make it 86-81 and Sturtz finished it off with another pair from the line after rebounding a Born miss.

Penn made one big shot after in another in going 9-for-18 from the field and hit all nine of his free throws. He also handed out six assists and grabbed four rebounds.

Sturtz finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds and three steals for his sixth double-double this season and 15^th of his career. Darnell Brodie and D.J. Wilkins each scored 12 points as well and DeVries finished with 11. DeVries made some key plays after missing his first nine shots and Brodie also did his scoring late and pulled down eight rebounds. He didn't get his first basket until the 10:48 mark in the second half and wound up 5-for-8 from the field.

Born finished with 30 points, including five 3-pointers, and Landon Wolf added 15 for the Panthers (12-11, 8-5).

A 3-pointer from Born gave UNI a 46-35 lead midway through the second half, but Drake answered with an 11-0 run, tying it at 48 on Brodie's putback. The Bulldogs eventually built a 62-58 lead and led 64-61 after Penn's two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining. That was just enough time for Born to push the ball up the floor and drain his tying 3.
Drake held an even bigger lead, 72-66, in the second overtime and was up 74-71 after DeVries sank two free throws with 52.6 seconds to go. Born missed a close-in shot with time running out and the Panthers kept possession on a jump ball with 3.6 second left. The inbounds pass sailed over Born's head, but he ran it down, dribbled toward the top of the key and fired in his second tying 3.

"This rivalry game means a lot to me growing up 30 minutes down the road," Sturtz said. "We wanted to get it done in 40 minutes, but getting it done in 50 minutes works too."

The Bulldogs did an excellent job taking care of the ball, finishing with just five turnovers, and outrebounded the Panthers 46-38. They collected 13 offensive rebounds, which they turned into an 18-2 advantage in second-chance points. Drake also had a 13-6 edge in points off turnovers.

"The conference standings are so close and everything is highly contested," DeVries said. "Finding ways to win is all that matters."

Drake heads back out on the road for its next two games – at Valparaiso on Saturday, Feb. 4, and at Murray State on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

TEAM NOTES
•The crowd of 6,229 was the largest home crowd of the season. Capacity in the renovated Knapp Center is 6,424. Drake's previous season-high home attendance was 4,144 against Bradley on Jan. 14.
•Drake, earning its fourth straight victory, improved to 18-6 overall, while moving into a four-way tie for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 9-4 record.
•Darrian DeVries moved into a tie with E.O. Williams (1932-43) for second on the all-time Drake career coaching victory list with 113 wins.
•Drake had all five starters score in double figures, improving its record to 5-0 this season when five players reach double-figure scoring
•Drake moved to 8-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points and 49-1 under the DeVries coaching era.
•Drake ended a UNI streak of 14 straight games in which the Panthers had held their opponents under 80 points.
•Drake is 2-1 in overtime games this season and 10-4 under the DeVries coaching era.
•This marked Drake's first double-overtime game since the Bulldogs beat San Diego, 110-103 in two overtimes Dec. 23, 2018 to win the Las Vegas Invitational.
•Drake's bench scored 13 points, improving its record 7-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference games whenever the reserves score 10 or more points.
•Drake committed five turnovers - its second lowest total of the season.
•Drake, which trailed 33-28 at halftime, improved to 5-3 this season in overcoming a halftime deficit including 25-33 under coach Darian DeVries. 
•The Bulldogs had a streak of five straight double-digit halftime leads come to an end.
•Drake moved to 4-3 on games played on Wednesday this season and 26-8 during the DeVries coaching era.
•Drake outrebounded UNI, 37-34, pushing its record to 14-1 when outrebounding opponents this season, including an 86-14 record during the DeVries coaching era.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Graduate guard Roman Penn scored a team-high 28 points, including a combined nine points in the two overtimes.
•It marked Penn's second 20-plus scoring game of the season and 8th of his career.
•Graduate guard D.J. Wilkins, graduate forward Garrett Sturtz and redshirt senior center Darnell Brodie scored 12 points apiece.
•Sophomore forward Tucker DeVries added 11 points including six in the second overtime.
•Wilkins moved into No. 8 on the Drake career scoring list at 1,474 points passing Wayne Kreklow who scored 1,471 points from 1975-79. Kreklow played on the 1981 Boston Celtics NBA championship team
•Sturtz grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds, while enjoying his sixth double-double this season (15th of career). It also marked his 17th double-figure rebounding game of his career.
•Sturtz has collected a school-record 871 career rebounds.
•Penn dished out a game-high six assists to move into No. 11 on the Missouri Valley Conference career assists list at 552, passing Rick Fields who had 551 for Indiana State from 1981-85.
•Wilkins made two three-point baskets to push his school career three-point basket total to 279.
•Penn didn't commit a turnover marking the ninth game this season he didn't make a miscue
 
THE SERIES
•Drake has won five of the last six games in the series but trails, 51-32.
•This marked the third straight overtime game played in the series with UNI earning an 74-69 OT win in Des Moines Feb. 5, 2022 while Drake pulled out an 82-74 OT win in Cedar Falls Jan. 22, 2022.
•Drake is 21-18 against UNI in games played in Des Moines.