DES MOINES — The Drake University men’s basketball team rallied from deficits in both halves and grabbed two key offensive rebounds at the end to beat Richmond 73-70 at the Knapp Center on Saturday afternoon.
In game matching two of the oldest teams in college basketball, two of Drake’s veterans, Roman Penn and Tremell Murphy, along freshman Tucker DeVries, made the key plays at the end to give the Bulldogs (3-0) their 27th straight nonconference victory at home.
Richmond (2-2), which led by as many as seven in the first half, used an 8-0 run to open a 46-38 lead early in the second half and still led by eight, 59-51, with 6:47 remaining. But the Bulldogs outscored the Spiders 22-11 the rest of the way to pull out the victory against a team picked to finish second in the always tough Atlantic 10 Conference.
Murphy, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points, gave Drake its first lead since late in the first half when he drove for a basket that made it 63-62 with 3:36 left. Penn, who had been having a tough day offensively and was playing with four fouls, then took over and the Bulldogs never trailed again.
After DeVries drew a charge, Penn drove down the right side of the lane for a layup, forcing a Richmond timeout. Then he drew a foul and sank both free throws to stretch the lead to 67-62. After a Richmond 3 cut the lead to 67-65, Penn came back again, drawing a foul on another drive and converting a three-point play.
That made it 70-65 and the Bulldogs held on, thanks in large part to offensive rebounds by Murphy and DeVries.
Murphy was fouled after his rebound and sank both free throws for a 72-68 lead with 17 seconds left. A quick Richmond layup made it a two-point game and, with a chance to make it a two-possession game, D.J. Wilkins missed twice from the free throw line.
But DeVries swooped in for the rebound, made a free throw and that proved to be enough as Richmond missed a hurried 3-point shot just before the buzzer.
Murphy went 5-for-10 for the field with four 3-pointers and grabbed seven rebounds. Penn finished with 12 points and four assists, DeVries scored 11 to go with six rebounds and Wilkins had 10. Garrett Sturtz played his usual solid game with eight points, a team-best nine rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Drake finished with a 40-34 rebounding edge, including 13 on the offensive end.
Penn made all three of his free throws and is 18-for-18 this season. He has hit 19 straight dating back to last season.
Richmond has six graduate students on his roster and four of them have scored 1,000 points in their careers. But junior Tyler Burton was the Spiders’ best player in this one, scoring a career-high 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting and grabbing nine rebounds. Senior Grant Golden added 17 points.
The Spiders have a starting lineup with an average age of 23.4 years. Drake’s starters average 24.06 years.
Both teams went at it hard defensively from the opening tip, forcing tough shots and in Richmond’s case, making nine steals and forcing 15 turnovers. But Drake played the better defense down the stretch and was rewarded with a well-earned victory.
The Bulldogs hit the road for their next three games, meeting future Missouri Valley Conference member Belmont in the first round of a tournament in Orlando on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25.
