DES MOINES, Iowa — The Drake University men’s basketball team jumped to an early lead, then held off Missouri State until the Bears rallied in the final 2 minutes for a 66-62 victory at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night.
“I thought we played pretty well for most of the game,” head coach Darian DeVries said. “It was a choppy, physical game. We have to be a little more efficient on offense as we go down the stretch.”
Missouri State erased a six-point Drake lead with a 10-2 run and spoiled a record night for the Bulldogs’ Roman Penn, who became the school’s career leader in assists. Penn handed out six to match his season high and run his career total to 389 and move past Glenn Martin, who had 384 from 1984-88.
Penn’s final assist came on a perfect lob to ShanQuan Hemphill, whose dunk gave the Bulldogs a 56-50 lead with 5:57 left. But Drake went without another field goal until Penn drove for a layup with 17.7 seconds left and the Bears fought their way back.
They tied it at 58 on Gaige Prim’s hook shot and teammate Ja’Monta Black made a big play by poking the ball away as the Bulldogs worked for a go-ahead basket. Black drew a foul driving to the basket and sank both free throws to put the Bears up 60-58 with 1:01 remaining, their first lead since late in the first half.
Two Isiaih Mosley free throws made it 62-58 with 24 seconds to go and the Bears held on to hand the Bulldogs their second straight loss, the first time Drake has suffered consecutive Missouri Valley Conference losses at home since losing to Loyola and Southern Illinois in January of 2018. Drake fell to 17-8 overall and 8-4 in the league. Missouri State, which broke a three-game losing streak at the Knapp Center, is 18-8 and 9-4.
Hemphill, Garrett Sturtz and Darnell Brodie scored 12 points each to lead the Bulldogs, who led for most of the game despite foul trouble that pestered Tremell Murphy and D.J. Wilkins. Wilkins finished with 10 points and added three steals, while Tucker DeVries had eight points, six rebounds, three steals and a block.
Sturtz led the team with eight rebounds. Brodie grabbed seven and showed a nice touch on some mid-range jumpers while making 5-of-10 shots.
But Drake shot just 36.7 percent as a team and finished 3-for-15 on 3-point shots after going 0-for-7 in the first half.
Prim led Missouri State with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting. The Bulldogs held Mosley, the league’s top scorer, scoreless in the second half until his two late free throws. He ended up with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
The Bulldogs, who lost to the Bears 61-56 in Springfield on Jan. 2, jumped on them early in this one, making four of their first six shots in racing to an 8-0 lead. Missouri State fought back to a tie at 10 but did not take its first lead until Prim swished a rainbow 3 from the top of the key, making it 23-22.
There were five lead changes after that, the last when Murphy’s tip-in put the Bulldogs up 30-29 at halftime, and a quick flurry at the start of the second half stretched the lead to 38-32. DeVries buried a 3 from the left wing, then converted an old-fashioned three-point play on a spinning drive before a steal by Wilkins and pass from Murphy led to a Sturtz layup.
But the Bears refused to fold. They fought back to a tie at 40 and were down when 51-50 before Wilkins knocked down a 3 and Penn fed Hemphill for the dunk that put the Bulldogs up six. Missouri State then made the plays it needed down the stretch while keeping the Bulldogs under wraps defensively.
“We’re in a tough stretch of the schedule in a great league against great opponents,” DeVries said. “We will get up tomorrow morning, learn from the tape and move on. That’s what you have to do in basketball.”
Drake next goes to Bradley for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday before returning home to face Evansville on Wednesday night, Feb. 16.
