SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Guard Roman Penn returned after missing seven games as the Drake men’s basketball team clawed back late in the second half before falling 61-56 to Missouri State in Missouri Valley Conference play at JQH Arena on Sunday night (Jan. 5).
“It’s disappointing,” head coach Darian DeVries said. “I thought we were great for about 30 minutes defensively. The game flipped in the first eight minutes of the second half. We had real good control in the first half but in the second half we went stale. They (Missouri State) made some good effort plays.”
Nearly a minute into the contest, Penn dropped in a floater to kick off the scoring efforts for both teams. The Bulldogs (10-5, 1-1) led 12-11 with 11:56 left in the first half before they ventured on a 10-0 run that was ended by a Isiaih Mosley 3-pointer with 9:03 to play and the Bears (10-5, 1-1) trailing 21-14.
Garrett Sturtz hit double figures scoring with 7:22 remaining in the opening half on a driving layup as the Bulldogs controlled a 25-16 advantage. That layup was Drake’s last made field goal of the first half.
Drake led 29-23 at halftime and held Missouri State to 29.6 percent (8-for-27) shooting from the field in the first half.
The Bears began the second half with a 13-4 spurt by the 17:14 mark. Penn connected on Drake’s first two second half field goals before Darnell Brodie sank a hook shot with 13:33 remaining to bring the visitors back within single digits, 45-37.
“I thought Roman Penn was great,” DeVries said. “We didn’t know what to expect. Our goal was to keep him around 20 minutes. It was great to see him back out there and in command.”
The Bulldogs found themselves behind, 52-41 with 8:53 to play. Penn found Tremell Murphy on an alley oop lob for a slam with 7:09 left as the Bears led 52-44.
Down the stretch, Drake hung around to make it a one-possession game twice including when Sturtz drained two free throws with 50 seconds ticking as the score read 59-56.
“Sturtz came in and gave us a great lift in both halves,” DeVries said. “He just goes out there and competes with great effort.”
With under 30 seconds left, down 60-56, the Bulldogs created open looks from beyond the arc and hauled in a pair of offensive rebounds. The bottom of the net was not found as Missouri State held on.
Donovan Clay paced MSU with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting. Gaige Prim notched a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Southern Illinois men’s basketball determined that it is unable to compete in Wednesday’s (Jan. 5) game in Carbondale, Ill., against Drake. The game has been postponed and the MVC will attempt to reschedule the game, if possible.
Drake men’s basketball is scheduled to play next against Indiana State inside the Knapp Center on Saturday (Jan. 8) at 5 p.m. for its inaugural Suit Up Against Pediatric Cancer game.
