DES MOINES, Iowa – A second-half surge turned into a disappointing finish and the Drake men's basketball team left the Knapp Center court heartbroken again.
 
The Bulldogs rallied from 15 down in the first half to lead by as many as four in the second half, but UIC was stronger down the stretch and pulled out an 80-70 victory Thursday night to hand Drake its fifth straight loss. The Flames escaped after the Bulldogs trailed by only two points with under two minutes to play.
 
Drake got points from everyone who played, led by Eli Shetlar's 17, knocked down 11 3-pointers and was on the verge of building a comfortable lead in the second half. But the Bulldogs couldn't put together the one big run they needed and dropped to 12-15 overall and 6-10 in the Missouri Valley Conference with a game at Northern Iowa coming up Sunday.
 
Shetlar was the Bulldogs' most consistent player throughout the game and finished 5-for-11 from deep, continuing his solid stretch of shooting from the perimeter. He also made both his free throws and pulled down five rebounds.
 
In his last 11 games, Shetlar has averaged 11.9 points and knocked down 36 of 77 shots from distance (47 percent). This was his fifth game this season with at least five treys and second in a row.
 
Jalen Quinn rebounded from a tough first half – one point and three turnovers -- to notch 15 points, including Drake's first 10 of the second half. The senior transfer from Loyola Chicago moved up to No. 14 on the school's single-season scoring list with 534 points, passing Terry McKissick, Ken Harris, Wayne Kreklow and Jeff Halliburton.
 
Braden Appelhans and Griffen Goodbary each scored eight points, while Jaehshon Thomas and Owen Larson scored six apiece. Okku Federiko led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds and three assists but had a rough night otherwise, missing all six of his shots and scoring just one point.
 
It was an encouraging performance for Goodbary. The 6-foot-10 freshman had his most productive outing since scoring nine points at Evansville on Dec. 21, making all three of his shots, including a 3-pointer, sinking his only free throw and pulling down three rebounds.
 
Falling into an early hole didn't help matters for the Bulldogs. UIC (14-12, 9-6) made its first four shots in taking a 9-0 lead and was up 14-2 before Drake found its footing. The Bulldogs pecked away at the lead and pulled to 20-13 when Thomas fought through contact for a layup and sank the ensuing free throw.
 
UIC then pulled away again and rebuilt the lead to 33-18 with 7:37 left in the half. What followed was the Bulldogs' best stretch of the game, a 13-0 run during which they made five straight shots.
 
Braden Appelhans, usually a perimeter shooter, started it with a runner and Shetlar buried a triple on a drive and dish from Andrew Alia. Some hockey-like passing – Shetlar to Fredriko to Goodbary – resulted in Goodbary's dunk and Goodbary knocked down a three moments later. When Alia followed with another trey, the Bulldogs trailed just 33-31 and the crowd of 3,495 was juiced.
 
UIC hit a three-ball to end the run, but triples from Appelhans and Shetlar kept it close and the Bulldogs trailed 40-38 at the break. Quinn found his touch coming out of halftime, hitting a running hook shot, two 3-pointers and a Eurostep reverse layup to produce a tie at 48.
 
The Bulldogs gained their first lead of the game, 51-50, on Goodbary's old-fashioned three-point play with 13:24 left. A 7-0 run that Thomas finished by banking a short jumper high off the glass gave Drake its biggest lead of the game, 65-61, and they were up 66-63 when Thomas sank a free throw with 6:06 to play.
 
But it was all UIC after that.  The Bulldogs went almost four minutes before scoring again and the Flames finished the game on a 17-4 run to send Drake to its ninth home loss of the season. Drake missed its final five shots after Isaiah Carr's bucket inside left the Bulldogs trailing just 72-70 with 1:44 left.
 
Four UIC players scored in double figures, led by Elijah Crawford with 18. The Flames kept Drake at bay by sinking 12 straight free throws in the final 6:19 and finished 17-for-18 at the line. They outrebounded the Bulldogs 36-32 and piled up a 25-7 edge in points off turnovers. UIC turned it over only five times and made nine steals.
 
It was just the second victory in Des Moines for UIC, which swept the season series with Drake. The Flames' only previous win on Drake's court was an 84-82 victory on Dec. 28, 1978.

"Credit to [UIC], they got off to a great start," Drake head coach Eric Henderson said. "That game played out like too many have this year. Disappointed in the bookends – the start and then the end. We've just got to be ready to play and at the end of the day at this time of year, the teams that are really defensive minded, rebounding-minded, physical, usually are kind of ending up on top and we're just a little bit light in that area."
 
Drake will take on Northern Iowa at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls at 2 p.m. Sunday as the Bulldogs start their final stretch of regular-season games. They host Southern Illinois on Feb. 18, go to Valparaiso on the 25th and finish at home against UNI on March 1.
 
Team Notes
—Drake, suffering its fifth straight loss, slipped to 12-15 overall including a 6-10 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
—The Bulldogs' home record fell to 6-9, including a 3-7 mark in MVC games.
—UIC broke away from a 72-70 lead by using an 8-0 run to end the game with all eight points scored at free throw line
—There were seven ties and eight lead changes.
—Trailing 33-18, Drake went on a 13-0 run (making six straight shots) in a 3:50 span to chop the deficit to 36-34.
—Drake shot 42.6 percent (23-54) including 50 percent (13-26) in the first half.
—Drake went 9-for-16 in layup opportunities.
—Drake missed its last five shots to close out the game.
—Drake made 11 three-point baskets (27 attempts, .407 percentage) marking the eighth game making 10 or more three-pointers.
—UIC outrebounded Drake, 36-32, with the Bulldogs falling to 4-12 when being outrebounded.
 
Player Notes
—Redshirt sophomore Eli Shetlar led Drake with 17 points including 12 in the first half.
—Senior transfer guard Jalen Quinn added 15 points after being held to one point in the first half. Quinn outscored the entire UIC team, 10-8, in the opening five minutes of the second half.
—Quinn moved into No. 14 on the Drake single-season scoring list with 534 points, passing Terry McKissick (1974-75, 533), Ken Harris (1976-77, 527), Wayne Kreklow (1978-79, 526) and Jeff Halliburton (1970-71, 524).
 —Shetler made five three-point baskets marking his fifth game with five or more three-point baskets including his second straight contest.
—Freshman Griffen Goodbary came off the bench scoring eight points - his most in the last 13 games.
—Redshirt junior Braden Appelhans also tallied eight points, making two three-point baskets.
—Wilguens Jr. Exacte, who had started in 13 games, missed his 13th consecutive game because of a foot injury.
 
The Series
—Drake, suffering its second straight loss to UIC, still leads the Flames in the overall series, 11-5 including a 7-2 mark in games played in Des Moines.