Illinois St. pulls away early in 2nd half, beats Drake 69-55
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Phil Fayne scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, Zach Copeland finished with 19 and Illinois State beat Drake 69-55 on Wednesday night.
Milik Yarbrough added 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Illinois State (13-9, 6-3 Missouri Valley Conference), which has won four of its last five games. Keyshawn Evans chipped in with 11 points. Copeland, Yarbrough and Evans combined to make all nine of the Redbirds' 3-pointers. Fayne posted his sixth game of the season with 20-plus points.
Nick McGlynn had 15 points and seven rebounds to lead Drake (16-6, 5-4). Tremell Murphy added 11 points, and Brady Ellingson scored nine points on three 3-pointers.
Fayne scored eight points during a 13-4 surge to open the second half that stretched the Redbirds' lead to 45-31 with 15 minutes remaining. Fayne's dunk with 5:47 left made it 64-43.
