By Austin Duncan
DES MOINES, Iowa- For the second time in the last two games, the Illinois State Redbirds men’s basketball team trailed by double figures in the first half but rallied in the second half to take down Drake 67-62 at the Knapp Center.
Illinois State’s Roland Griffin broke the seal of the game giving the Redbirds an early 2-0 lead.
Drake used a 7-0 run including a 3-pointer from Ore Arogundade to take a 7-2 advantage with 15:31 to play in the first half.
Illinois State’s Tony Wills stole a Reed Timmer pass and forwarded the ball to Devaughn Akoon-Purcell who flushed it home to cut Drake’s lead to 9-8.
Drake then put together another 7-0 run capped by a layup by Timmer, forcing a timeout from Illinois State head coach Dan Muller, down 16-8.
The Bulldogs would continue its scoring, inflating the lead to 26-17 3:53 remaining in the first half.
Drake’s Graham Woodward nailed a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs its biggest lead of the half at 12 with just under two minutes to play.
Illinois State trailed 32-22 at the half.
The Redbirds came alive at the start of the second half, gaining moment on a 360 dunk by Akoon-Purcell. Akoon-Purcell scored the first six Redbird points in the half, but it was a jump shot by Paris Lee that forced Drake to take a timeout, leading 34-30 with 16:12 to play.
Out of the timeout, ISU’s Quintin Brewer blocked a shot by Drake’s Jacob Enevold to force a shot clock violation which led to Lee nailing a 3-pointer to cut the Bulldog lead to just one.
The Redbirds finally got over the hump on a jump shot by Akoon-Purcell to take the lead for the first time since the score was 2-0, leading 41-40. Wills defense struck again, getting a steal and layup to expand ISU’s lead to three.
The next six possessions included six lead changes with Drake gaining a three point advantage with 6:22 to play in the half.
Credit to Illinois State’s Deontae Hawkins, the three point Drake lead was short one as Hawkins nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game.
The Redbirds regained the lead at 58-56 with 3:23 to play on a jumper by Akoon-Purcell.
Drake battled back to a tie, when ISU’s Wills hit a 3-pointer with 1:22 to play to give ISU a 63-60 lead. A pair of free throws from Lee gave ISU its biggest lead of the game at 65-61 with 38 seconds remaining.
Drake’s Timmer missed one of two free throws and Hawkins collected the rebound which caused Drake to begin to foul.
Akoon-Purcell missed the front end of his one-and-one giving Drake another chance. Woodward missed a 3-pointer, Wills gathered the rebound and fed it to Lee who got fouled. Lee hit both free throws to secure the victory.
Akoon Purcell collected a career-high 28 points while collecting a team-high nine rebounds. Lee added 15 points and a pair of assists while making all four of his free throw attempts. Hawkins scored 12 points, adding five rebounds. Quintin Brewer blocked three shots while adding five rebounds.
Drake’s Reed Timmer collected a team-high 16 points while Woodward was right behind him with 15 points, scoring three times from 3-point land and six from the free throw line. Kale Abrahamson collected a team-best eight rebounds.
Paris Lee and Devaughn Akoon-Purcell returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the Redbirds’ game on December 19 at Saint Joseph’s. Deontae Hawkins did not start for the first time this season.
The Redbirds improve to above .500 for the first time this season at 8-7, while being 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play for the first time in Dan Muller’s tenure at Illinois State.
Illinois State returns to action as it plays host to former Redbird head coach Porter Moser and his Loyola Ramblers for a 7 p.m. tip on Wednesday. Redbird preview will being at 6:00 p.m.
Listen to postgame comments from head coach Dan Muller and Devaughn Akoon-Purcell here.
