DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. -- Central Florida took advantage of a six-minute scoring drought by Drake to close out the game by scoring the last eight points en route to a 59-50 victory in the Glenn Wilkes Classic Sunday.
After a jumper by freshman forward
Ben Simons pulled Drake within 51-50 with 6:08 left, the Bulldogs ended the contest by missing their last seven shots, while committing three turnovers.
Drake shot 31 percent from the floor, making 18 of 58 attempts.
"We really had a hard time shooting, particularly in the second half when we needed key baskets," said Drake head coach
Mark Phelps.
Senior forward
Adam Templeton led Drake with 15 points, while Simons added 11 points - all in the second half.
Drake starting guards
Ryan Wedel and
Josh Young were a combined four-of-17 shooting from the floor.
Wedel finished with seven points, while making the Glenn Wilkes Classic All-Tournament team. Young had four points.
"Our guards struggled to score," Phelps added.
Simons scored seven straight points in a two-minute span midway through the second half. His two free throws with 10:20 left gave Drake its last lead of the game at 46-44.
Shooting just 31.3 percent from the floor, the Bulldogs relied on defense to trail 29-27 at halftime.
Drake forced Central Florida into nine turnovers, scoring nine points off those miscues.
Despite the setback, Phelps saw some positives from his young team, featuring 10 newcomers, during the tournament.
"I was happy to see that we're making progress defensively and that our rebounding is coming around," said Phelps.
"Playing three games in three days showed us that we need to raise our level of intensity and play with more urgency."
Templeton, hitting three straight three-point baskets to open the game, scored nine of Drake's first 12 points. He added a team-high six rebounds.
"I was pretty fortunate that my teammates were able to find me so I could knock some shots down," said Templeton.
Drake will resume action Saturday, traveling to Austin Peay.
"This tournament was very beneficial for us," Templeton added. "We played two great teams. We need to continue to work on improving our defense and rebounding.
"If we look back, we've come a long way in the last week since our season opener (Nov. 14) and we're making strides and progressing. We have to keep playing hard."
