PEORIA, ILL. -  Will Egolf hit a rebound jumper falling down from seven feet on the left wing with 1.8 seconds left to lift Bradley to a 67-65 Missouri Valley Conference victory past Drake Tuesday night.

It marked the third straight year that the Drake-Bradley game played in Peoria was determined by two points or less. Drake escaped with a 69-68 victory in 2008 on a rebound jumper by Adam Emmenecker at the buzzer, while Bradley posted a 77-75 double overtime victory last year.

Adam Templeton's three-point basket from the left wing with 18.6 seconds left allowed Drake to tie the game at 65-65.

Bradley guard Sam Maniscalco then missed an 18-foot step-in shot from the top of the key before  Egolf's heroics.

Earlier, Egolf had a tip-in rebound basket after Maniscalco missed a three-point shot with 27 seconds remaining to give Bradley a 65-62 advantage.

The Bulldogs did manage to get the ball to halfcourt, but Ryan Wedel's desperation attempt from the midcourt sideline hit off the backboard.

Drake had battled back from a nine-point deficit in the second half which pleased head coach Mark Phelps.

"I was proud of our team with their ability to battle back in the second half, " said Phelps whose team fell to 11-13 overall, including a 6-6 league mark. "I thought our defense was good enough with stops on Bradley's last two possessions. We just didn't block out and finish."

Senior guard Josh Young led Drake with 19 points, scoring 12 of the Bulldogs' last 18 points in the final 8:20.

Young moved into the No. 3 spot on the school career scoring list with 1,643 points surpassing Willie McCarter who scored 1,624 from 1966-69.

Junior guard Ryan Wedel scored 15 of Drake's first 26 points, hitting seven of 10 shots. But he missed all four of his shots in the second half. Wedel had eight points in the Dec. 29 game against Bradley.

Templeton, who entered the game ranked fourth in the MVC in rebounding, enjoyed his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

But Bradley outrebounded Drake, 39-29, including a 13-8 edge in offensive rebounding which led to 13 second-chance points.

Trailing 42-35 at halftime, Drake held Bradley without a basket in the opening five minutes 20 seconds of the second half.  But the Braves caught fire, reeling off seven straight points to turn a 47-45 edge into a 54-45 advantage with 11:32 left after a layup by Taylor Brown.

Templeton, Young and freshman center Seth VanDeest triggered Drake's comeback. VanDeest had a hook shot and Young drilled a three-point basket from the top of the key to pull Drake within 54-50. Young made another three-point basket from the right baseline that closed the deficit to 55-53 with 5:41 left.
 
Maniscalco answered with a basket to push Bradley's lead to 57-53. But VanDeest hit another basket in the paint, cutting the gap to 57-55.

Young made six straight free throws in a 2:36 stretch to keep Drake within a basket.

The Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game after VanDeest was fouled on a defensive rebound. But he missed his first free throw before making the second to pull Drake within 63-62 with 1:02 left.

Maniscalco hit two three-point baskets keying an 8-0 run by Bradley to close out the first half as the Braves enjoyed a 42-35 halftime lead. The 42 points were the most first-half points allowed by Drake in an MVC game this season.

The Braves shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the first half, before Drake's defense buckled down, limiting the Braves to 34.6 percent shooting in the second period.

Meanwhile, Drake, which entered the game leading the MVC in three-point baskets, made just five of 26 shots from beyond the three-point arc.

"We improved our defense in the second half," Phelps added. "We missed open three-point shots we normally knock down."

Wedel had four steals, giving him 22 in his last 11 games. It marked the seventh time this season Wedel has had at least three steals in a game.

VanDeest finished with nine points and seven rebounds.