The Indiana State Sycamores defeated the Drake Bulldogs, 61-54, Wednesday night at the Hulman Center.

Despite a strong start to the second half for the Bulldogs, it was tenacious defense and clutch free-throws down the stretch that sealed the deal for the Sycamores. Coming off of a 27-point performance in a double overtime victory over Evansville, senior guard Dwayne Lathan, again, led the Sycamores with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Jake Odum joined Lathan in double figures, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds to go along with three assists. Drake was led by sophomore guard Rayvonte Rice with 17 points, while junior forward, Ben Simons tossed in 13.

With the win, ISU has won three consecutive games and improved their record to 14-9 overall and 5-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Meanwhile, Drake fell to 13-10 overall and 6-6 in the conference.

Following a missed jumper from Simons, the Sycamores got going early with a 6-0 run before ISU senior guard, Jordan Printy was called for a foul, sending DU senior guard, Kurt Alexander to the line to sink both free throws.

Despite a poor shooting performance from behind the arc (2-14), ISU was able to dominate the paint throughout, outscoring Drake, 36-16, in that category.

"Being 2-14 from three and coming away with a win is pretty good," ISU head coach, Greg Lansing said.

"We want to play inside-out," Lansing said of his team's ability to score inside. "We're just not a pretty team. We're a team that is going to grind it out."

The Sycamores headed into the locker room at halftime with a 32-26 lead, holding Drake to just 29.6 percent (8-27) shooting.

"We weren't very good on the offensive end," Drake head coach, Mark Phelps said of his team's struggles offensively. "We weren't executing. They limited us in our dribble penetration."

The Bulldogs, however, came out of the gate for the second half strong, igniting a 7-0 run to take their first and only lead of the game, 33-32, with 18:39 remaining.

ISU's defense limited Drake to just two field goals in the final nine minutes of the contest. Following a 3-point play at the 9:01 mark from Simons, the Bulldogs didn't score again until they hit a pair of three pointers in the final minute of play. They weren't enough, however, as continued defensive pressure and clutch free throws from Lathan and sophomore guard Lucas Eitel in the final minute helped close it out for the Sycamores.

The Trees will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Wichita State for a nationally televised game on ESPN2. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:05 p.m. (ET).