DES MOINES, Iowa – Ring Malith's 15-foot jumper with less than two seconds to play vaulted SIUE men's basketball to a 61-59 win at Drake Friday night at the Knapp Center.
The Cougars improved to 2-0 on the road and 3-1 overall with the win. Drake slipped to 2-2.
The win was the 89th at SIUE for Head Coach Brian Barone moving him past Marty Simmons for fourth place on the all-time wins list.
Following a timeout, Jo Valrie inbounded for Jack Campion near the top of the key. Campion found Malith just off the right elbow for the winning shot.
Malith finished with 20 points; his second 20-point game on the road this season. Myles Thompson earned his second career double-double with 11 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. He added three assists. Campion scored seven points, added seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Valrie added 13 points and four rebounds of his own.
SIUE got out to a fast start but had to endure a second-half surge from the Bulldogs.
The Cougars started the game hot and a Malith three-pointer with 13:28 to play in the first made it an 11-0 run and pushed SIUE's lead to 18-5, forcing Drake into a timeout.
SIUE led 22-7 at under 12-minute media timeout thanks 9-15 (60 percent) shooting. The lead was 33-18 when Drake went on a 8-0 run to trim the advantage to 33-26.
SIUE led 36-30 at half.
Another three-pointer by Malith with 17:50 to play extended the lead to 39-30, but SIUE opened was cold to start the half, beginning the period just 1-9 from the field.
The Cougars led 42-39 when Drake's Wilguens Exacte buried a three-pointer with 12:01 to play, tying the score at 42. Arnas Sakenis hit a free throw to put the Cougars up 43-42 before a 7-0 Drake run gave the Bulldogs a 49-43 lead.
The Bulldogs led 54-51 when Jo Valrie knocked down a three-pointer to tie the score with 4:06 left. Thompson scored after fighting through two defenders to put SIUE ahead 56-54.
A three from Drake's Jalen Quinn made 57-56 Drake and the Bulldogs called a timeout. The Cougars got the ball back before calling a timeout of their own. Following the timeout, Malith put SIUE up 59-57 SIUE with a three. Quinn tied the game with a jumper from the left of the lane. The Cougars then called timeout with 5.8 seconds left and set up the play to Malith.
SIUE stays on the road to face No. 24/22 Wisconsin Monday night in Madison.
