GREELEY, Colo. - The Drake University men's basketball team nearly erased a 14-point deficit in the final six minutes before falling to Northern Colorado, 81-72, Sunday afternoon in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) led the Bulldogs with a career-high 24 points to record his second-straight 20-point game and his third of the season. However, the Bulldogs had no answer for UNC's Andre Spight's 21 points or Jordan Davis' 12-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance. Tanner Morgan added 19 points for the Bears.
"I thought we came out decent, but didn't have the fight we needed tonight," said Drake head coach
Niko Medved. "But what I think about with this group, is I think about what they've done in changing the energy in this program. That is so much bigger than any one game. I'm really proud of them and it's been a great year."
McGlynn's scoring came on 9-of-13 shooting and
Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) added 20 points to cap his historic career at Drake with 2,000 career points.
Facing a 14-point deficit with 5:46 left in the contest, Drake pulled within five points, 70-65, on a McGlynn basket with 2:23 left. Timmer scored five of his points during that stretch but UNC countered with seven-straight points, all from Morgan and Spight, to put the Bears back up by double digits in the final minute and prevent the Bulldogs from threatening the lead.
McGlynn scored 13 of his points in the second half and started by scoring five of the Bulldogs' first 10 points of the half. Three of those points came during an 8-0 run with Timmer adding the other five points to pull the Bulldogs within two points, 43-41, with 15:36 left in the contest.
However, seven Drake turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the half prevented the Bulldogs from cutting into that lead any further and five UNC three-pointers in the first 14 minutes of the half extended the Bears' lead to 14 points, 68-54, with less than six minutes remaining. The Bears ended the game with 11 three-pointers on 22 attempts.
A pair of three-pointers from Timmer and McMurray helped the Bulldogs get out to an 8-4 lead to open the game before the Bears went on a 9-0 run started by a Davis dunk to swing the lead in their favor. A Jonah Radebaugh three-pointer with 4:41 left in the period extended UNC's lead to double-figures, 30-20, before Rivers countered with a three-pointer of his own for Drake to help the Bulldogs pull back within two possessions.
The Bears managed to maintain that advantage heading into the locker to lead, 36-29, at halftime. McGlynn scored 11 of his points in the opening half on 4-of-6 shooting, but the rest of the squad converted at a 6-of-19 clip to open the game and allow the Bears to own the first-half lead and eventually hold off the Bulldogs.
"It's been a fun season and you hate to see it come to an end," Medved added. "Now we're going to take a deep breath and then start to focus on the continuing to get better in the offseason."
