TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State took a giant step towards clinching the Missouri Valley Conference title with a determined second half effort to lift the Sycamores to a convincing 100-79 victory over Drake at Hulman Center Tuesday before a record crowd of 10,513.

Led by Larry Bird's 20 points out of a game-high 33, the Sycamores shot a blazing 69 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from the Bulldogs who had trailed only 38-36 at halftime. This fine shooting allowed the Sycamores to tie a team record with 62 points in the final half.

Coach Bill Hodges explained the reason his squad was only up by two points at the half saying, "Our defensive concentration was not good in the first half, and we haven't really had it for the last couple of games."

"But, we worked harder and improved our concentration on defense and played excellent in the second half." Hodges added, "We also worked well for the high percentage
shot, and this helped us to pull away with some easy baskets."

The second-ranked Sycamores are still unbeaten with an overall record of 21-0, but more importantly are far atop the Valley race with a mark of 11-0. ISU owns a four-game lead with five games left, so only a complete turnabout of form would deprive the Sycamores of their first Valley crown.

Hodges downplayed the importance of the undefeated season when asked about it, "Going undefeated was not one of our original goals. Our first goal was first place in the Valley and then to win the conference championship. We musn't loose sight of that fact."

Drake employed some rugged defense and tough board play in the first half. However, the Bulldogs got many of its starters im foul problems in the process after bulling into a 20-15 with 9:16 remaining.

Starters Ernie Banks and Wayne Kreklow each picked up three fouls in this period. Leading scorer Kreklow was whistled for his third personal with 7 25 to go and was forced to sit out the rest of the half.

The Sycamores battled back on some fine inside play and forged into a 25-24 lead with 6-56 left after a slam dunk by Alex Gilbert off a nifty pass from Steve Reed, forcing Drake to call a timeout.

Drake, conscious of its foul problems, went into a slowdown on offense by using the four-corners. However, this strategy failed as they lacked patience by taking two ill-advised shots and allowed the Sycamores to pull into a 36-30 lead.

With the score 36-34, Bird batted an offensive rebound to Gilbert for another slam dunk with 38 seconds left before the Bulldogs closed the gap to 38-36 with a basket with just four
ticks remaining.

The aggressive play by the Bulldogs helped them in rebounding as they led by 21-18 as a team. However, the Sycamores countered that deficiency as they shot over 55 percent from the
field, and was led by Bird's 13 points while Carl Nicks added nine tallies.

In the second half, Drake quickly knotted the score at 38-38 by getting four shots on its first possession. However, the Sycamores tallied the next six points and were never headed
the remainder of the way.

Brad Miley's basket off a pass from Bird started the Sycamores winning spurt. Bird followed with a break-away bucket after a steal which he followed with a pair of free throws
after being fouled for a 44-38 lead with 18:14 left. Kreklow converted a three-point play to cut the margin to 44-41, but the closest Drake would get again was at 50-47 with 15 35 to go in the game.

The Sycamores quickly pulled away for good after scoring 11 of the next 13 points in the next three minute spam to jump ahead 61-49. The Bulldogs tried to stay close and still only trailed 67-57 before the Sycamores utilized the fast break and their foul shooting opportunities caused by Drake's fouling.

Bird led the Sycamores with his 33 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and four steals. Nicks added 15 points, while Gilbert and reserve Leroy Staley pumped in 14 and 11 counters.
Reed also dished out 10 assists for the Sycamores.

Bird reached another milestone as his career total of 2,513 points moves him into tenth place on the all-time NCAA scoring list. He passed Elgin Baylor and Bill Bradley to achieve that lofty standing. Bird also needs just 48 points to better the top collegiate scorer in the state of Indiana, Austin Carr of Notre Dame.

Nelson led the Bulldogs with 20 points, while Kreklow and Rodney Wright supplied double-figure support with 16 and 12 points. Dave Johnson led the Bulldogs in rebounding with 9 boards, all in the first half.

Indiana State will face Bradley on the road Saturday, a team they defeated 93-74 at Hulman Center last month. The Sycamores next home action will come against West Texas
State Monday.