St. Louis, MO -- (Sports Network) - Jay Tunnell scored 18 points to lead the ninth-seeded Indiana State Sycamores to a 62-55 victory over the eighth-seeded Drake Bulldogs in the opening round Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Rashad Reed pitched in 15 points for Indiana State (11-20), which will take on top-seeded Northern Iowa in the quarterfinal round on Friday.

Jonathan Cox scored a season-high 27 points in defeat for Drake (17-15), and Cox has now played in a school-record 128 games for the Bulldogs.

Indiana State hit 6-of-12 three-pointers in the first half and limited Drake to 31.8 percent shooting from the field en route to a 33-20 lead at intermission.

The Bulldogs rallied from a 44-23 deficit to pull within a single point at 52-51, but the Sycamores scored 12 points from the foul line in the second half and held on for the win.

Indiana State won the game despite a 26-14 deficit in points in the paint.