Atin Wright's half-court buzzer-beater gives Drake men's basketball victory at Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Atin Wright's near-half-court heave to beat the buzzer sent Drake men's basketball past Evansville 78-75 at the Ford Center on Tuesday night.

Wright scored 21 points of his 26 points after halftime while shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the second half.

"That was quite the ending and not how we envisioned it," Drake coach Darian DeVries said. "Winning is hard. What a shot and what a second half by Atin Wright. He carried us on a night when we didn't have some other things going for us."

Wright said of the winning shot, which he released a few steps past the half-court line: "Conor (Enright) did a good job getting it up the floor. I was looking for an open space and Conor saw me. I knew I didn't have a lot of time that is why I shot it off one leg."

Drake extended its winning streak against Evansville to 10 games and has won back-to-back road contests. Drake earned its third straight win and improved to 21-5 overall while moving within one game of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 12-3 record.

"Winning on the road is so difficult," DeVries said. "We knew it would be a tough game and we were fortunate to come home with a win. We were able to survive. We have some much-needed days off now and get refreshed for this stretch run."

The Bulldogs will return home to host Murray State on Sunday at 1 p.m. for its third-annual Suit Up Against Pediatric Cancer game.

The Drake sports information department contributed this report.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake men's basketball wins on Atin Wright's buzzer-beater