Randy Rice scored a career-high 17 points as Illinois State defeated the Drake Bulldogs, 68-54, in Missouri Valley Conference action tonight at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State, 9-11 overall, 5-4 in the Missouri Valley Confererence, made six of its 12 three-point attempts in the game for 50 percent. The Redbirds also shot 88 percent (22-for-25) from the free throw line on the night.
Shedrick Ford was the Birds second-leading scorer with 15 points, while Baboucarr Bojang collected his sixth double-double of the season with a 14-point, 10-rebound performance. Shawn Jeppson also found double digits in the scoring column with 13 points, all which came in the second half.
Drake, 8-11, 3-6, had only one player in double-figures in scoring with Luke McDonald collecting 11 points. The Bulldogs shot only 36 percent in the game, including 9-for-27 from the field in the second half for 33 percent.
Midway through the first half, Illinois State capitalized on a Drake scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes to take a five-point lead on the Bulldogs, 18-13. However, Drake went on to score the next seven straight points to take the lead, 20-18, with 4:42 remaining in the half. Bojang scored six points at the free throw line to lead the Birds on an 11-3 run to close out the half and head into the break with a 29-23 advantage.
In the second half, Drake was able to cut the lead to two, 31-29, on an Andry Sola three-pointer with just over 17 minutes remaining. However, Illinois State had an answer for any further attempts to cut into the Redbird lead. Clutch free throw shooting by the Birds in the final two minutes sealed their third-straight conference victory.
The Redbirds continue their conference slate Wednesday, January 30, with a home game against Northern Iowa at 7:05 p.m.
