Southern Illinois University
16-14,9-9MVC
Drake
22-9,13-5MVC
Men's Basketball comeback falls just short at Drake — rematch at Arch Madness
02/26/2022 | 6:03:00 | Men's Basketball
DES MOINES, Iowa — If today's Southern Illinois-Drake game is any indication, hold on to your seats when these two teams square off in a rematch next Friday at Arch Madness.
Southern Illinois rallied from 17 points down to nearly spoil Drake's Senior Day before falling, 62-60, on Saturday at the Knapp Center.
The Salukis (16-14, 9-9), whose four-game winning streak was snapped, had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but a baseline jumper by Marcus Domask fell short.
Southern will be the No. 6 seed at next week's conference tournament in St. Louis and will play No. 3-seed Drake at 8:30 p.m. on Friday in what promises to be another thriller.
Trailing, 39-22, early in the second half, SIU made a furious rally, knocking down 7-of-9 shots from 3-point range to stun a near packed house on-hand to send off Drake's seniors.
"Their character, their resiliency — these guys are a bunch of winners," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins said of his team. "We came up a possession short, a shot short tonight, but I'm incredibly proud of the way we played in the second half."
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Lance Jones and Steven Verplancken Jr. started the comeback, cutting the deficit to 12 and breathing life into the Salukis.
Verplancken then started a 9-0 run when he buried another triple with 14:00 remaining, and Ben Coupet Jr. finished the run with a 3-pointer to close the gap to 44-42.
The Bulldogs (22-9, 13-5), who ended the regular season with five-straight wins, made a run of their own, stretching the lead to eight points, but they couldn't shake Southern.
Trailing, 54-46, Jones made a three-ball, Coupet hit a driving layup and Domask hit back-to-back post-up buckets during a 9-2 Saluki stretch that trimmed the deficit to 56-55 with 2:15 to go.
The game came down to the final possession, after Drake's Roman Penn missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds left.
Following a timeout, Jones brought the ball up the court and fed Domask in the right block with barely two seconds left. Domask spun to his left and released an off-target shot over Tremell Murphy just before time expired.
"He had a good look," Mullins said. "It didn't fall this time, but it'll fall next time."
Southern's two losses to Drake this season came by a total of three points.
"Drake is an NCAA Tournament team and we've had two one-possession games with them," Mullins said. "We have to win these games — that's the standard here, that's what we expect to do."
Domask, who led SIU with 21 points and made 9-of-14 shots from the field, said the team is confident about its chances at Arch Madness.
"We're going to St. Louis and we expect to play three games and win three games," he said. "We all believe we can go to St. Louis and beat whoever we play."
With Domask, Jones (13 points, five assists) and Coupet (14 points, six rebounds) all heating up during the final weeks of the season, Southern is clearly playing its best basketball. Mullins said his team hasn't peaked yet.
"A lot of teams take their foot off the gas the last couple weeks of the season, but I thought we got better this past week heading into today," he said. "The next four or five days heading into Friday night, we have to be a little bit better than we are today. That's the challenge and I know our guys are extremely motivated and can't wait to represent SIU in St. Louis."
