CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois men’s basketball overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to defeat Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Drake, 53-49, Wednesday night inside Banterra Center.
The Salukis (12-4, 4-1 MVC) held Drake to just 19 points over the final 20 minutes while holding preseason All-MVC forward Tucker DeVries to 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting and Bulldog guard Roman Penn to 1-for-15 from the floor.
“It wasn’t pretty – two really good teams playing hard,” head coach Bryan Mullins said postgame. “We didn’t get off to a good start but for the last 30 minutes, I thought we really competed at a high level. We didn’t shoot the ball well and had some turnovers but in terms of effort, that was some high-level effort.”
SIU forward Marcus Domask was every bit of his preseason accolades for the Salukis. The Waupun, Wisconsin native scored a game-high 21 points, including the final 15 points for the Salukis as SIU closed out the game on a 19-6 run.
Domask gave SIU its first lead of the game with a jumper at the 3:17 mark before extending the lead to three points moments later. Drake (11-5, 2-3 MVC) was able to reel off back-to-back scores to regain the lead with just 50 seconds left at 49-48.
After being denied the lane once, Domask was able to get the ball back on the wing and drain his first 3-pointer of the night to give the Salukis a 51-49 advantage with just over 30 seconds left to play.
“I’m happy for Marcus. He just made a play,” Mullins said. “He drove, he got cut off, and then he got the ball back and made a play. That’s what talented, winning players do.”
Domask missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation giving the Bulldogs a chance to tie or win the game, but the Saluki defense did not let up as Penn missed a floater, and DeVries’ putback did not go. Domask iced the game with a pair of free throws to help the Salukis to their seventh-straight victory.
To go along with his 21 points, Domask also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out three assists in the win – his 14th multiple-assist game of the season.
Mullins continued: “To hold that team (Drake) to 19 points in the second half – that’s not easy to do with the players that they have.”
Center JD Muila controlled the defense for nearly 30 minutes of game action for the Salukis, finishing with a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points and a blocked shot. The Ottowa native corralled three rebounds on the offensive end and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
“JD (Muila) came back from break really motivated – wanting to play his best basketball moving forward and he’s put a lot of extra work in,” Mullins added. “I’m happy for him that the results are paying off. He does a great job for us defensively but he’s also doing a great job for us on the offensive end.”
Both SIU and Drake shot an identical 33.3 percent from the floor, but the difference came at the charity stripe as Southern went to the rim and cashed in 15-of-19 from the line.
Lance Jones dominated on the defensive end and added eight points and three steals in the win. Xavier Johnson scored eight while grabbing three rebounds.
The Salukis converted 13 of Drake’s turnovers into 13 points while also outscoring the Bulldogs in the paint 20-16.
DJ Wilkins led the Bulldogs with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting while DeVries added 11.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will hit the road for their next two games starting on Saturday with Northern Iowa. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. from Cedar Falls with the game also airing on ESPN3.
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