DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's basketball closed its non-conference season with an 81-57 win over visiting Maryland Eastern Shore Friday, Dec. 22, evening at the Knapp Center. Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) returned to form with 21 points for the Bulldogs to record his sixth 20-point game of the season.
 
De'Antae McMurray (Alton, Ill.) added 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the three-point arc while Casey Schlatter (Iowa Falls, Iowa) had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting as the Bulldogs shot 53 in the second half to pull away from the Hawks. Drake (6-7) remained unbeaten at home this season with the win.
 
"He's been playing much better over the last couple weeks and he's a huge key to what we've been doing," Drake head coach Niko Medved said of McMurray. "I think he's really starting to play well and clearly I thought he was pretty good for us tonight."
 
Eastern Shore (3-11) got 11 points from Cameron Bacote plus 10 points and 10 rebounds from Miryne Thomas for his second double-double of the season.
 
Drake opened up with a 6-0 lead in the first 1:15 of the game, but UMES drew even over the next six minutes to tie the contest at 12-12 with 12:26 left in the half. UMES eventually took a lead at 17-16 that the Hawks held for nearly three minutes before a McMurray three-pointer put the Bulldogs back on top.
 
"It wasn't pretty early, we knew this team would play hard and we talked a lot about energy and enthusiasm," Medved said. "I thought we had good energy and our guys found a way. We made some right plays and the game broke open when we made some shots."
  Later, the Bulldogs closed the half on a 9-2 run behind five points from Timmer to pull away for a 33-28 lead at halftime. Timmer scored 10 of his points in the opening half but the offense was hindered by eight first-half turnovers that led to eight of the Hawks' points.
 
"That run at the end of the first half was big for us to go into half with a lead and our guys found a way to finish the job tonight," Medved said.
 
The Bulldogs stretched their lead out to eight points in the opening minutes of the second half. With 14 minutes left in the half, Drake went on an 8-0 run capped by a Timmer three-pointer to take a 49-36 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the contest. The Bulldogs shot 8-of-16 from three-point range in the second half to break open the game.
 
"We're a good three-point shooting team and if we keep taking open looks, percentages are percentages," Medved said. "We shoot 40 percent from three as a team and you've got to believe if you keep taking good shots, the next one is going in."
 
Drake soon stretched its lead out to double-digits and back-to-back three-pointers from McMurray with just under four minutes remaining gave the Bulldogs a 20-point, 70-50, lead that the Hawks would not cut into for the remainder of the contest.
 
Drake returns from the Holiday break to open Missouri Valley Conference play Dec. 28 against Bradley. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Knapp Center.