CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Drake men's basketball team erased a 17-point second half deficit and earned a significant win on the road in overtime against Southern Illinois, 76-73, on Wednesday night.
 
The pace on the court was fast between the Bulldogs and the Salukis, but the shots weren't falling for either side in the early goings. Through the first eight minutes of action Drake was shooting 29-percent from the floor, but SIU was just below at 22-percent. Despite the slow shooting, Drake held a 12-10 lead following a three-ball from the wing by Okku Federiko at the 12:17 mark.
 
The shots eventually started to fall in favor of Southern Illinois as the game progressed. A stretch of two minutes saw the Salukis sink four of five attempts, which brought the score even at 19-19.
 
When the game reached halftime, the Saluki lead ballooned to 11 points, 37-26. A scoreless stretch of over four minutes by the Bulldogs didn't do Drake any favors while SIU ended the period on a 12-2 run. A dunk by Isaiah Carr off a press break was the only field goal for the Bulldogs over the last five minutes of the half.
 
Turnovers plagued the Bulldogs to start the second half and SIU getting to a number of 50-50 balls allowed second chance opportunities in the paint. In just a couple of minutes, Drake found itself trailing by 17, 45-28.
 
The three-point shooting of Eli Shetlar kept the Bulldogs in striking distance, however. Drake trimmed the deficit back down to 11 following consecutive triples from the sharp-shooter and then a floater in the lane by Owen Larson got it back to a single-digit contest with 13:31 on the clock.
 
Drake pulled within six points on a couple of different occasions, first at the 12:13 mark off Shetlar's third long ball of the period, and then again with 9:03 to go after a pair at the charity stripe by Federiko. For every Drake response, however, SIU had an answer and maintained a nine-point advantage just after the under eight-minute break.
 
It was a five-point game when the clock struck 4:23 with the Bulldogs playing through Shetlar. The redshirt sophomores hot shooting in the second half, leading to 13 points up to that point in the period.
 
All of sudden the Bulldogs caught fire down the stretch and exploded for a 9-0 run as a Jalen Quinn stepback jumper tied the game at 64. On Drake's next possession the senior gave Drake the lead with a layup.
 
Larson was sent to the line with :16 seconds remaining and went 1-for-2, which put Drake up 67-65 and on the restart Quel'ron House made his two free throws to tie the game back up. Quinn had a shot at the buzzer but it clanked off the rim and the game went to overtime.
 
In the overtime period, Drake and SIU traded points at the free throw line and on the floor with Quinn and House leading the charge for both sides. It was Quinn, however, that gave Drake the lead on a layup with :24 seconds remaining. He then followed up with a pair of free throws to make the score 76-73 and secure the win.
 
"I'm just super proud of our guys," Drake head coach Eric Henderson said. "Obviously, I thought we were a little bit lethargic in the first half and even to start the second half I didn't love it. If I had five guys eligible to play, I probably would have subbed all of them in, but I did three and then I did four more right away and boy, did they respond. This game is funny and it has a way of rewarding young people for doing the right thing. We were stung the other night when Belmont got us at home and we were pretty gut wrenched, but we weren't defeated. We didn't lose our spirit. We came back to practice and we came to work and I'm most proud of how they keep coming back. The resiliency of this group is incredible."
 
Drake will stay on the road for its next game as it heads to UIC on Saturday, Jan. 17. Tipoff against the Flames is slated for 2 p.m. CT.
 
Team Notes
—Drake leveled its record to 9-9 overall including a 3-4 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
—Drake is 3-1 in four Missouri Valley Conference games determined by three or less points
—The Bulldogs improved to 3-2 on the road.
—Drake is 1-1 in overtime games after dropping its home opener to Robert Morris 81-79 Nov. 6.
—There were 12 lead changes and nine ties in the game.
—Drake rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half (45-28) with 17:37.
—Guard Jalen Quinn scored four straight points in the final 24 seconds of overtime with a running jumper and two free throws, coupled with a steal, as Drake erased a 73-72 deficit.
—Trailing 64-55 with 3:28 left in the second half, Drake closed out regulation holding Southern Illinois without a basket, while outscoring the Salukis, 12-3.
—Quinn scored six points to fuel the Drake surge with his layup with 43 seconds left allowing the Bulldogs to take their first lead at 66-65 since the 6:51 mark of the first half.
—Drake shot 40.3 percent from the floor (25-62), including 56 percent (14-25) in the second half.
—Drake improved to 3-8 when trailing at halftime while erasing a 37-26 deficit.
—Drake owned a 15-10 margin in second-chance points.
 
Player Notes
—Senior transfer guard Jalen Quinn enjoyed his seventh 20-plus scoring game of the season, leading Drake with 21 points, including eight points in both the second half and overtime periods.
—Eli Shetlar, making just his fifth start of the season, posted his first career double-double with 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
—Sophomore transfer Okku Federico added 12 points and eight rebounds.
—Shetlar made a game-high five three-point baskets, marking his third game this season making five or more three-pointers. He has made 13 three-point baskets in his last two games, including a career-high eight treys against Belmont last Saturday.
—Quinn led Drake with four assists, while making all eight free throw attempts.
—Senior transfer Isaiah Carr came off the bench tying a career high with two steals, while collecting four points and five rebounds in 13 minutes 36 seconds.
—Wilguens Jr. Exacte, who had started in 13 games, missed his fourth consecutive game because of a foot injury.
 
The Series
—Drake earned its seventh straight victory against Southern Illinois but still trails in the series, 61-48, including a 16-35 mark in Carbondale.
—The Bulldogs have won 12 of their last 13 games against Southern Illinois dating back to Jan. 3, 2021.
—Drake has won its last three games played in Carbondale dating back to Jan. 13, 2024.