DES MOINES, Iowa – It took overtime to get it done, but the Drake men's basketball team extended its home winning streak to 18 games with an exhaustive 92-88 victory over Southern Illinois at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night.

"It was a heck of an effort by the team and I'm really proud of them," head coach Darian DeVries said. "I thought that was a hard-fought physical game that took a lot out of both teams. We have had a couple of overtimes where we came up short and I thought tonight in this overtime we made the type of plays you need to make to win in a close game."

The Bulldogs (19-5, 10-3 Missouri Valley Conference) fought off the gritty Salukis all night before finally securing the victory when Atin Wright sank two free throws with nine-tenths of a second left.

Drake overcame the absence of guards Conor Enright and Colby Garland and a 35-point outburst by SIU's Xavier Johnson to hold on to second place in the league, two games behind Indiana State.

"We couldn't get him (Xavier Johnson) under control in the second half," Darian DeVries said. "But it was still a gritty and tough effort."

Tucker DeVries led the Bulldogs with 27 points, including 17 in the second half and overtime. He did most of his damage with free throws, drawing fouls with aggressive drives to the basket and finishing 13-for-15 at the line.

Darnell Brodie scored 15 of his 18 points after halftime, going 6-for-7 from field and pulling down eight rebounds. Wright added 15 points, three assists and two steals and Kyron Gibson, getting his first start of the season in place of Enright, scored 12 points while playing a season-high 38 minutes. He had two steals and made Drake's only two 3-pointers.
Kevin Overton came up with eight points and Carlos Rosario scored seven to go with five rebounds.

Enright missed the game because of illness. Garland missed his fourth straight game with a knee issue.

With those two out, Gibson had to carry the heavy load of guarding Johnson, the nation's No. 2 scorer. Johnson knocked down 14 of 28 shots, including a drive to the hoop and a jumper to get the Salukis to within two points late in the final minute of overtime. He also had five assists and three steals while playing all 45 minutes.

Drake shot 64 percent in the second half and overtime and 57 percent for the game. The Bulldogs also hit 32 of 40 free throws and outscored SIU 56-36 in the paint. Drake improved to 13-0 at home this season after beating SIU for the ninth time in their last 10 meetings.

"Our guys are all basketball guys," Darian DeVries said. "They love to watch it. They love what it's about. That's why they're so good with the scouting reports, because they enjoy the aspect of how do I get better, how do I learn this game a little bit better, and then utilize that to my talents."

Even with that efficient shooting, the Bulldogs couldn't put the Salukis away, mainly because SIU was almost perfect at the free throw line – 20 of 22 -- and knocked down 10 3-pointers,
Rosario's two free throws produced the seventh lead change of the first half and put Drake ahead 38-37 at the break. The Bulldogs led by as many as eight points four different times in the second half, but SIU kept clawing back and led 82-80 when Johnson drove for yet another basket with 36 seconds left.

DeVries countered with a drive and scoop to tie it and when Johnson missed a contested shot at the buzzer, the two teams needed another 5 minutes to decide it.

Drake took charge early in the overtime, outscoring the Salukis 8-2 to take a 90-84 lead when Gibson made an acrobatic contested shot from the left baseline with 2:18 left.

Johnson's final two baskets cut it to 90-88 with 39 seconds remaining and the Salukis got the ball right back on a steal. With Johnson dribbling out front as he searched for a final shot, Gibson knocked the ball away and drove for it on the floor, resulting in a jump ball and SIU retaining possession with 1.8 seconds to go.

Then, with the 6-foot-10 Brodie guarding the inbounds passer along the sideline in front of the SIU bench, the Bulldogs forced a 5-second call and Wright was fouled after collecting the inbounds pass. He calmly knocked down both free throws to finally seal it after Drake lost its first two overtime games of the season, both on the road.

Drake is now alone in second after Bradley's loss at Evansville Wednesday night. The Bulldogs go to Bradley on Saturday for a 5 p.m. tip.

Team Notes
•With the win, and a Bradley loss at Evansville, Drake improved to 19-5 overall while securing sole possession of second place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 10-3 record.
•The Bulldogs are 13-0 at home this season.
•Drake's win was their 18^th consecutive home victory dating back to last season.
•As of Wednesday night, the 18-game home winning streak is the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball.
•The Bulldogs are 5-0 this season in games following a loss and have won 12 consecutive home games following a defeat.
•Drake took a narrow 38-37 lead into halftime. SIU went scoreless over the last 2:46 of the first half while the Bulldogs failed to score over the final 3:10 of the opening stanza.
•Wednesday's game was the third overtime contest of the season for Drake. The Bulldogs are now 1-2 when playing through OT this season
•There were 11 lead changes and eight ties in the game.
•Drake's .569 field goal percentage was their third-highest in a single game this season.
•The 92 points scored by the Bulldogs matched their second-highest single-game total this year (vs. Alcorn, 12/19).
•The Bulldogs remained undefeated (10-0) when wearing their traditional white uniforms. Wednesday marked the 80th win while wearing white of the Darian DeVries era.

Individual Notes
•Guard Kyron Gibson earned the first start of his Drake career.
•Gibson started in place of Connor Enright (illness) who missed his second game of the year. It was Enright's first absence since Dec. 22 at UAB.
•Gibson scored a dozen points including a pair of threes in a season-high 38 minutes played.
•Tucker DeVries led Drake with 27 points for his 12th 20-point outing of the season and 33rd such game of his career.
•DeVries did not make a three-pointer in five attempts, just his second game of the year in which he did not make a three.
•DeVries also went 13-for-15 from the free throw line, setting new career single-game highs in makes and attempts.
•Darnell Brodie added 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. 
•Brodie has hauled in at least five rebounds in all 23 games he has played.
•Atin Wright led Drake with three assists while scoring 15 points.
 
The Series
•Drake has won four-straight matchups against Southern Illinois, but the Salukis still lead the all-time series, 61-45.
•Drake has won nine of the last 10 meetings versus SIU.