DEC. 9, 2008
AMES, IOWA ? Craig Stanley's three-point basket gave Drake its only lead of the game when it counted the most, propelling the Bulldogs to a come-from-behind 66-63 victory at Iowa State Tuesday night.

Stanley (Plano, Texas) hit only his second three-point basket of the season when he took a feed from Josh Young and connected from the right baseline with 3:04 left to give Drake a 64-62 lead.

The basket capped a 14-2 run by Drake during a 4-minute 54-second span that erased a 60-50 Iowa State lead.

The Bulldogs continued their in-state dominance in the Big Four series by winning their ninth straight game against a Division I team in Iowa, including its third straight against the Cyclones.

Junior guard Josh Young (Lawton, Okla.) paced a balanced scoring attack for Drake with 19 points.

Senior forward Jonathan Cox  (Barrington, Ill.) recorded his 14th career double-double and second of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds for Drake.

Junior transfer forward Adam Templeton (Rapid City, S.D.) collected his first career double-double with 13 points and career-high 10 rebounds.

“Guys stepped up for us tonight," said Drake coach Mark Phelps.  "Craig Stanley, not shooting particularly well from three-point range, hit a huge three to put us up finally.

"Adam Templeton, slowly but surely is becoming more and more comfortable. Bucky Cox, 14 points and 10 rebounds. Guys just
made plays down the stretch and we did enough to get the win.”

Drake held Iowa State to just one basket in the final 7:58 of the game. A free throw by Craig Brackins brought Iowa State to within 64-63 but Stanley and Templeton each made a free throw in the final 28 seconds to account for the final margin.

It marked the first time Drake has beat Iowa State three straight times since the Bulldogs beat the Cyclones in four consecutive years from 1973-76.

It also marked the first time Drake has ever beat Iowa State in two consecutive trips to Hilton Coliseum.

“I'm so proud of our guys, the way they battled back," Young explained. "This is a tough place to play. You come into Hilton Coliseum, they have they have great fans and a great team. This Iowa State team came out with a lot of intensity and a lot of heart. They have come a long way.”

Cox and Templeton combined for 24 of Drake's 40 rebounds as the Bulldogs won the battle of the boards, 40-32.

Drake also outscored Iowa State, 16-2, on second-chance points.

“We're really proud of (our rebounding)," Phelps added. "That's something we continue to work on. We don't have tremendous size, but we have guys that give great effort. We have to have guys rebounding from all positions.”

Iowa State went on 11-0 run to break 6-6 tie as Drake missed four shots and committed two turnovers during stretch.

The Cyclones erected a 24-11 cushion before Drake went on a 13-3 run to pull within 27-24 following a three-point basket by Adam Templeton .

However, Iowa State responded with consecutive three-point baskets from Diante Garrett and Lucca Staiger to push its advantage to 33-24.

Drake scored the last five points of the first half to close the gap to 33-29 on three free throws by Young and two by Cox.

Drake held Iowa State to just 36.7 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.

“Particularly the second half of the second half, guys made plays. (Iowa State) stopped scoring," said Phelps. "Part of it I give our guys credit on defense, and some threes that didn't fall for them. Our guys kept chipping away.”

Young added five points and a season-high three steals for Drake which will host Georgia Southern in the Hy-Vee Classic Friday at the Knapp Center.