ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Drake men's basketball team kicked off the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday and took down the No. 8 seed Southern Illinois Salukis from the Enterprise Center, 67-63.
 
The Bulldogs were in a rhythm to start the contest and raced out to an early 8-0 lead with Okku Federiko making the pair of baskets for Drake. Meanwhile, the Salukis were ice cold from the field and proceeded to miss their first 10 shots of the game.
 
Quel'ron House put an end to the cold start for SIU with 13:51 left in the half and by the under-12 media timeout, the Salukis had trimmed the Drake lead down to 11-7 with the Bulldogs then going cold from the field missing four consecutive shots.
 
It was an 11-0 run from SIU that propelled it ahead of Drake, 13-11, but a triple from the wing by Owen Larson ended the drought for the Bulldogs and gave them the lead right back.
 
The game of runs continued as the first half wound down, but it was SIU pulling off another run, this time a 7-0 stretch, which gave the Saluki's their biggest lead of the game at nine points with 3:34 left on the clock.
 
When the halftime horn sounded, the Bulldogs went into the locker room trailing by just four, 31-27. Eli Shetlar led the Bulldogs at the break with eight points and three rebounds. Jalen Quinn scored six of Drake's last seven points to close the half, but SIU owned a massive rebounding advantage, 27-12, with the Saluki's pulling down 15 offensive boards.
 
When play resumed for the second half a scoring battle between the two All-Conference on the floor broke out. House took charge for the Saluki's and scored 10 of their first 13 points of half. Quinn, however, went for eight points and led a charge for Drake that put the Bulldogs back in front, 46-44, with 11 minutes to go.
 
Drake and SIU remained close over the next four minutes of play with both sides trading buckets, but it was Drake still clinging to the lead. A Griffen Goodbary triple followed by a smooth reverse layup by Quinn had the Bulldogs in front by three, 53-50.
 
The back-and-forth nature continued when the game hit the under-four mark. Drake went up by six following a Larson three-ball, but SIU responded with the steady hand of House to pull back within three, 61-58.
 
Down the stretch, Drake held off the late comeback attempt from SIU by making key free throws to secure the win.
 
"Super proud of our guys and I thought they matched some physicality," Drake head coach Eric Henderson said. "We had our backs against the wall and it was a tough stretch for us, there's no doubt about that, and to be able to continue to stay together … They've bounced back in practice almost every single day and to be able to have them be rewarded for that, that is what I am most happy for."
 
Drake will now face the No. 1 seed Belmont in the quarterfinals tomorrow afternoon. Tip-off against the Bruins is slated for noon with the game available to stream on ESPN+.
 
Post-Game Notes
—Drake, which snapped a nine-game losing streak, improved to 13-19 under first-year coach Eric Henderson
—Drake posted its 10th straight MVC Tournament victory - the longest tournament winning streak ever by an MVC school.
—Drake improved its MVC Tournament record to 33-43 including a 5-4 mark as a No. 9 seed while advancing to the quarterfinal round for the ninth straight year dating back to 2018.
—Drake is 3-1 in neutral site games this season.
—Drake improved its record to 5-15 when trailing at half after erasing a 31-27 halftime deficit.
—Drake also moved to 5-14 when being outrebounding (48-31 margin by Southern Illinois)
—There were four lead changes and five ties in the game.
 
Player Notes
 —Senior transfer guard Jalen Quinn enjoyed his 17th 20-plus scoring game with a team-high 22 points including 16 in the second half.
—Quinn moved into No. 8 on the school single-season scoring list at 624 points, passing Willie McCarter (1967-68, 603).
—Redshirt sophomore Eli Shetlar netted 16 points, while tying a career high with three steals.
—Sophomore guard Owen Larson added 14 points, surpassing his combined total of nine points (5, 4) in two previous games vs. Southern Illinois this season.
—Larson tied his career high with four three-point baskets.
—Redshirt junior Andrew Alia led Drake tying a career-best with 11 rebounds for the third time this season.
—Freshman Griffen Goodbary scored five points in a 42-second span to give Drake a 53-48 lead it never relinquished.
—Goodbary also tied a career high with two blocked shots.
 
The Series:
—Drake won the season series against Southern Illinois 2-1 and has won eight of its last nine meetings but still trails in the overall series, 62-49.
—Drake moved its MVC Tournament record against Southern Illinois to 6-3, winning its fourth straight tournament game against the Salukis.