Southern Illinois University
9-5 (2-3MVC)
Drake
6-11 (1-4MVC)
Drake rallies to beat Men's Basketball
01/09/2010 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2010
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The final minute was a nightmare for the Salukis.
Drake scored eight unanswered points in the last 60 seconds to rally for a 70-65 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday night. With the victory, the Bulldogs (6-11, 1-4) snapped a six-game losing streak and earned their first Missouri Valley Conference victory of the season.
It was an improbable comeback on the road, from the league's last-place team.
"I think we have led in the second half in eight games that we have gone on to lose," said Drake head coach Mark Phelps. "I'm really proud of them tonight to overcome some adversity, be down late and get the win."
The Salukis (9-5, 2-3) self-destructed in losing their third-straight game. With a 52-45 lead and less than eight minutes to go, SIU committed turnovers on four-straight possessions that opened the door for Drake's comeback.
The Bulldogs gladly took advantage, scoring seven-straight points to tie the game, 52-52, with 4:51 remaining.
"The turnovers killed us," said Saluki head coach Chris Lowery. "We turned it over and they're feeding off of it. We tried to make plays where there were no plays, and if we're more patient with the ball, it would have gotten a play."
Drake capped the run with a 3-pointer by 6-foot-6 forward Adam Templeton, who scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
"Adam was spectacular as an undersize front-court player," Phelps said. "Hustle play after hustle play, with six offensive rebounds, he shot the ball extremely well. He played like a big boy tonight. He was really good in every way."
SIU appeared to regain control of the game, as Kevin Dillard hit a 3-pointer with 1:19 left to give the Salukis a 65-62 advantage. The sophomore guard was a bright spot offensively for Southern, scoring 19 points and getting his shooting touch back by making 7-of-13 shots.
Everything fell apart for Southern in the final minute of the game, however.
It started when Templeton grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Seth VanDeest. Trailing, 65-63, the Bulldogs called timeout and set up a play for Ryan Wedel to take a 3-pointer. Although Wedel was 1-for-6 from 3-point range to that point, his triple found the bottom of the net to give Drake a 66-65 lead with 35 seconds to go.
Down one, Saluki guard Tony Freeman missed a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining. Teammate Justin Bocot grabbed the offense rebound, fell down and called timeout. Problem was, SIU had no timeouts remaining, and that gave Drake two free throws on the technical foul. Wedel made them both to go up three.
Southern had a chance to tie the game, but Carlton Fay's 3-pointer would not go down, and Templeton was fouled on the rebound with three seconds to go and sealed the victory with two more free throws.
"Down the stretch we made some careless decisions," said Dillard. "We couldn't guard the pick and roll the whole second half."
Defense was clearly a problem for Southern. Drake's guards routinely penetrated the lane in the second half and either scored or created open looks for teammates. The Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field in the game's final 20 minutes and were 14-of-15 from the free throw line in the second half.
"You just keep chipping away at it, you keep doing the right things, in practice you keep having the right approach," Phelps said.
It was a stinging defeat for the Salukis. A road loss to Illinois State and a home loss to preseason favorite Northern Iowa were difficult, but palatable. Losing to the league's only winless team left a bitter taste, as SIU has road trips to Creighton and Evansville awaiting it next week.
"Maybe it'll be good for us to go on the road -- we've got to find ourselves," Lowery said. "We've got to go back the other way. That's our jobs as coaches -- to make them go in the direction we want them to go."
Dillard said he is not giving up hope.
"I still have a high level of confidence right now," he said. "We're on a three-game skid, but I feel if we win our next one, we can put a streak together."
