Southern Illinois University
15-4, 10-1
Drake
7-14, 2-8
Men's Basketball Slips Past Drake, 65-64
02/06/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb 6, 2003
DES MOINES, Iowa - Southern Illinois escaped with a 65-64 win over Drake when Luke McDonald's 10-foot jumper skipped off the rim with three seconds left, and the Salukis' Stetson Hairston won the battle for the rebound as time expired.
The Salukis (15-4, 10-1) trailed throughout the second half until Jermaine Dearman's layup with 1:54 gave Southern a 63-62 lead. Dearman was fouled on the play, but missed the free throw, and Hairston was whistled for an over-the-back foul that sent J.J. Sola to the line for Drake (7-14, 2-8).
Sola missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Hairston grabbed the rebound and was fouled and sent to the free throw line. Hairston split the pair to put SIU up 65-63 with 1:27 left, giving the Bulldogs a chance to tie. On Drake's next possession, Greg Danielson was fouled, but he missed both free throws and Dearman hauled in the rebound off the second miss.
With the ball and a two-point lead, SIU had a chance to seal the win with less than a minute to play, but Kent Williams' 3-pointer rimmed out with 44 seconds remaining, and Darren Brooks was called for an over-the back foul.
That sent Drake's Sean Tracy to the line, where he split the pair to cut the deficit to 65-64.
The Salukis spread the floor and ran the shot clock down before Williams drove to the hoop and was fouled with 18 seconds left. After a Drake timeout, Williams missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Danielson grabbed the rebound, setting up Drake's final possession. McDonald shook loose on the baseline, but two Saluki defenders quickly closed out on himto force an off-balance shot.
Southern led by as many as nine points in the first half, 30-21, as Brad Korn sparked the Salukis with seven of his 11 points in the first 20 minutes.
Drake quickly wiped out the lead, though, as McDonald drained a pair of 3-pointers and J.J. Sola buried a triple to tie the game, 32-32, at halftime.
The Bulldogs took control early in the second half, but could never build a bigger lead than six points. Dearman keyed the second half rally with his inside scoring and finished with a team-high 16 points.
Southern Illinois has won five games in a row and is off to its best-ever start in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Head coach Bruce Weber:
"Any time you win, you're happy, and we made plays down the stretch, but I really feel bad for Drake. We had a chance in the first half to really stretch out (our lead), but we allowed them to make some plays and get back in it. They out-played us for a stretch of the next 20 or 25 minutes, but I told our kids during a timeout to keep your head up, keep believing, and somebody has got to make plays. We made enough plays to eke it out, but it wasn't pretty."
"We've been playing games like this all year, close games, gut-check games where our kids have made plays. We've been in big games, and our kids don't panic. They make plays when it counts."
"Jermaine got going in the second half. We got it inside to him. He really kind of keyed that stretch. We made other plays at key times, and then the great defensive stop at the end."
"We have a drill called the 30-second drill where we have to stop somebody for a full 30 seconds, and that's what it was. We didn't want McDonald to get a free look. He put it on the floor, and our kids came over and helped, and he shot a tough shot."
"We don't have an inside force (like last season). Their inside guys just dominated us. We couldn't stop them. They picked us apart. Last year, we had Rolan in there, and he was our defensive stopper inside. Our big guys have to do a better job of defending in the post."
Kent Williams:
"Both teams didn't shoot the ball very well from the line, especially near the end. When you don't make big free throws, it's going to cost you, and we got lucky today. We didn't shoot the free throws well, but we squeaked one out."
