OMAHA, Neb. – Trailing at halftime, the Drake (6-3, 1-0) men’s basketball team overcame its biggest deficit of the season to defeat Omaha (1-8) by a final score of 78-70 inside Baxter Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
“It was tough for us,” head coach Darian DeVries said. “We had a rough first half. We got outplayed and could never get going. But in the second half, we had some things start to happen in a positive way for us.”
Only a minute into the contest, Tucker DeVries buried a 3-pointer for a quick 3-2 advantage. DeVries racked up seven points before the 14:50 mark with Drake ahead, 9-4.
Against his former team, Ayo Akinwole drained back-to-back treys from 8:47-8:13 as the game was knotted at 18 points apiece. The Mavericks immediately responded with a 9-0 run from 8:13-6:11. Omaha controlled a 37-27 halftime advantage.
“When you start playing hard and dictating on the defensive end then your offense follows suit,” DeVries said. “We moved the ball on offense in the second half. It wasn’t all clean and easy. We made enough plays at the end to get some cushion.”
Omaha built its largest lead (41-30) of the game with 17:50 left in the second half. Drake’s first run of the second half occurred from 17:50-15:42 and was capped off by a Tucker DeVries 4-point play with the score evened at 41 all.
“I thought Tucker (DeVries) was great,” DeVries said. “Especially in the second half, making key plays for us. He gave us a great spark.”
Behind 53-47 with 11:55 to go, back-to-back trifectas by D.J. Wilkins and Tucker DeVries contributed to a 17-0 run that ended with 5:38 on the clock and the Bulldogs up 64-53.
Free throws in the final minute sealed Drake’s first road victory of the season, 78-70.
Darrius Hughes paced the Mavericks in scoring with 15 points and hauled in six rebounds. Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler ripped down a team-high eight rebounds and scored 10 points.
The Bulldogs travel to Atlanta for their Holiday Hoopsgiving matchup against Clemson on Saturday (Dec. 11) at 1 p.m. (CT)
