DES MOINES, Iowa – Cool, calm and collected, Daniel Abreu sank four free throws in the final 21 seconds to keep the Drake men's basketball team on a winning track.
 
Abreu finished with 23 points and Bennett Stirtz added 20 points and eight assists to lift the Bulldogs to their third straight victory, 66-62 over Illinois State at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night.
 
Illinois State shot itself back into the game after Drake jumped to a 19-5 lead, but the Bulldogs never gave up the lead and got some key 3-pointers from Stirtz and Mitch Mascari before Abreu secured the victory with his foul shots as the hushed crowd held its collective breath.
 
Drake (15-2, 5-2 Missouri Valley Conference) shot 52.3 percent and went 11-for-23 from distance – the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have made at least 10 3s – but still found itself fighting off Illinois State (10-8, 2-5) until the end. It was the Bulldogs' ninth straight win over the Redbirds and 11th in the last 12 meetings.
 
Abreu enjoyed his biggest game since scoring 30 in the season opener against York. He went 7-for-9 from the field, including 4-of-5 from deep, and made all five of his free throws. He also grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots.
 
Stirtz went 4-for-9 from 3-point range, matching his season high from behind the arc, and made two steals. Mascari added nine points on three 3-pointers and Kael Combs scored seven off the bench to go with four rebounds.
 
Illinois State came in sixth nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at .404, but missed its first nine shots from deep and finished 6-for-21. But the Redbirds racked up 30 points in the paint by driving the ball to the basket or getting it inside to 6-foot-9, 270-pound Chase Walker, who led Illinois State with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
 
Abreu nailed a 3 to start the game and Drake made its first three shots in taking a 9-2 lead. The 6-6 graduate student kept it going by driving the baseline for a dunk and knocking down another 3. After Stirtz and Nate Ferguson executed a perfect pick-and-roll for a Ferguson layup and Abreu converted a three-point play after a steal, the lead had grown to 19-5.
 
Illinois State missed 10 of its first 12 shots then made 10 of 12 to crawl back into it. A 6-0 run cut Drake's lead to 22-17 and the Redbirds drew to 30-28 when Northern Iowa transfer Logan Wolf buried two straight 3-pointers.  Combs answered by dropping in a floater and bouncing a pass to Ferguson for a layup, making it 34-28. Johnny Kinziger's jumper for ISU made it a four-point game at halftime.
 
Abreu drove for a bucket to start the second half and then he and his teammates answered every Illinois State threat the rest of the way.
 
The lead had shrunk to 48-46 when Drake responded with a 9-2 burst on 3-pointers from Abreu, Stirtz and Mascari. Mascari had to throw his up from well behind the arc to barely beat the shot clock, drawing a roar from the crowd and stretching the lead to 57-48.
 
Combs delivered a key basket with a spinning drive to the hoop for a 59-54 lead and Mascari's deep trey made it 62-57 with 3:03 left, the last Drake field goal.  But the Redbirds came back again, drawing to 62-60 when Walker muscled in for his final basket of the night with 50.1 seconds remaining.
 
Drake stayed patient and Abreu drew a foul shooting a jump shot in the lane. After an ISU timeout, he swished both free throws for a 64-60 lead with 20.7 seconds to play. Cam Manyawu secured his seventh rebound of the game for the Bulldogs after Walker misfired from deep and Abreu was fouled again. And again, he made both. It was 66-60 and it didn't matter that Illinois State scored at the buzzer.
 
"I thought we played well in spurts, competed in spurts," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "I thought we wanted to win more than we wanted to compete and sometimes that happens during the season. Sometimes you just have to survive. You know the old 'survive and advance'. You just have to survive these games a little bit. I thought we survived it. Need to make sure that next game we come out with a higher level of competitive spirit, to want to compete rather than just win."
 
Off to the third-best start in school history, Drake will hit the road for its next game, playing at Indiana State on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Bulldogs return home to play Valparaiso on Wednesday, Jan. 22. That one tips at 6:30 p.m.
 
Post-Game Notes
—Drake has achieved the third best start in school history with its 15-2 mark — only trailing a 24-1 start by the 2007-08 team and an 18-0 start by the 2020-21 squad.
—Drake improved to 5-2 in the MVC, including a 3-1 league home mark.
—Drake shot 52.3 percent from the floor (23-44) moving to 6-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor. The Bulldogs snapped a streak of five straight contests in which they had shot less than 50 percent from the floor.
—Drake made 11 three-point baskets, moving to 4-0 when making 10 or more treys in a game this season.  The Bulldogs had gone 11 straight games without making 10-plus treys in a game until tonight.      
—This marked the first time this season Drake had three players make three or more three-point baskets in the same game.
—Drake owned a 34-30 halftime lead, improving to 12-1 when leading at halftime this season.
—Drake, which leads the MVC in rebounding margin (plus 7.9), out-rebounded Illinois State, 25-22 while moving to 14-1 when outrebounding opponents this season.
—Drake led the entire game racing to a 9-2 lead which later was expanded to 19-5.
—Drake went the last 3 minutes 1 second without a basket scoring its last four points at the free throw—all by Daniel Abreu.
 
Individual Notes
—Graduate forward Daniel Abreu enjoyed his second 20-plus scoring game of the season (fourth in career) with a game-high 23 points including 12 points in the first half.
—Junior guard Bennett Stirtz added 20 points for his seventh 20-plus scoring game of the season (20th of career).
—Abreu (12) and Stirtz (10) combined for 22 of Drake's 32 points in the second half.
—Abreu made seven of nine shots, including four of five beyond the three-point arc. Abreu has made three or more three-point baskets in five games this season and nine times in career.
—Stirtz made four three-point baskets, while collecting eight assists along with two steals. He has made three or more three-point baskets in four games this season and 11 times in his career.
—Graduate guard Mitch Mascari scored nine points on three three-point baskets. It marked the 11th time this season he has made three or more treys in a game and 35th time in a career.
 
The Series
—Drake has won 11 of the last 12 meetings against Illinois State including nine straight games.
—Illinois State leads the series, 61-41.
—The Bulldogs own a 27-20 record against the Redbirds in games played in Des Moines.