>>Bradley Storms Back To Beat Drake

Donte Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in the game to give Bradley the lead for good and spark the Braves to a 73-70 win over Drake in their 1,000th Missouri Valley Conference game Saturday night.

Bradley trailed by nine at intermission and spent most of the second half clawing back. Freshman Antoine Pittman hit a 3-pointer with 3:33 left in the game to tie at 63-63 and his layup a half-minute later gave the Braves the lead.

Drake's Reed Timmer tied the game with a pair of free throws to make it 65-65 and did it a second time at 68-68 on a jumper with just under a minute to play.

Pittman finished with 20 points to lead Bradley (5-24, 3-13) and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye added 16 more off the bench.

Kale Abrahamson finished with 21 points and Timmer added 20 for Drake (6-22, 1-15).

>>Northern Iowa Pulls Away For Win Over Illinois State

Wes Washpun scored 18 points, Jeremy Morgan added 13, and all five Northern Iowa starters scored in double figures in a 75-66 win over Illinois State on Saturday.

Paul Jesperson had 12 points while Bennett Koch and Matt Bohannon added 10 apiece for Northern Iowa (16-12, 8-7 Missouri Valley), which bounced back after its six-game win streak was snapped in a loss to Loyola of Chicago on Wednesday.

Northern Iowa led by 14 at halftime but started the second half cold, making 2 of 9 from the field and allowing Illinois State to pull within three, 49-46, with 10:25 left.

The Panthers closed with makes on 10 of 13 attempts to stave off a Redbirds comeback.

Tony Wills had 13 points while Deontae Hawkins and Paris Lee each added 12 for Illinois State (17-11, 11-4).