Drywall on a basement ceiling is a pain

the only alternative to suspended ceiling that I saw was a ceiling tile 12
x 12 in that could
be stapled to wood strips.

I cut rough sawn strips 2-3/4" wide, plane one side smooth to 1/2" thick,
nail smooth side to the bottom of the floor joists with finish nails,
centered (use screws to attach ones where there may not be room to raise
panels for removal), cut 1/2" drywall to lay on top of these strips between
the floor joists, install by turning up at an angle and laying in between
the floor joists, stain rough sawn strips, paint drywall panels.

I ran a solid strip length wise below the joist bridging and where lights
were installed, this made a natural breaking point for the 8' pcs. running
crosswise.

A person from the list who did this, from my suggestion recently, used sound
deadening panels instead of drywall for the panels between the joists and
was very pleased with the results.

Walt Conner