DES MOINES, IOWA - Outscoring Drake by nine in the second half, 37-28,
Dartmouth erased a one-point halftime deficit en route to posting a 67-59
victory over the Bulldogs on Tuesday (Dec. 21) at the Knapp Center.
The setback dropped Drake to 4-6 on the campaign, while the
Big Green improved their ledger to 4-7 overall.
The contest was ultimately decided in the second half as the
Bulldogs connected on just 35.7 percent of its attempts, including a 2-of-13
mark beyond the arc. Conversely,
Dartmouth registered a 45.8 percent shooting mark and was 10-of-12 at the line
to seal the victory.
Momentum seemed to favor Drake to begin the second half as
the Bulldogs parlayed seven points from freshman Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) in
their biggest lead of the night, 38-32, just 1:24 into the final stanza.
The Big Green fired back a salvo of their own using a 10-3
run to regain the advantage on a jumper by Gediminas Bertasius at the 15:01
mark.
After a jumper by redshirt junior Kraidon Woods (Henryville, Pa./Pocono Mountain
East) returned the lead to Drake, 43-42, the Bulldogs went scoreless over the
next 4:48. During the span the Big
Green managed only two points.
Sophomore Seth VanDeest (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) ended
the scoreless streak with a basket with 9:50 left to place Drake back ahead,
45-44.
An 8-0 run followed for Dartmouth to jump to a 52-46
advantage, but again the Bulldogs rebounded to regain the lead, 55-54, on a
jumper by Rice with 3:17 left.
The Big Green though closed the game on a 12-5 run to secure
the triumph.
Senior Ryan Wedel (Minneapolis, Kan./Minneapolis) paced all players with a
17-point performance, while Rice recorded 15 points. Dartmouth garnered 17- and 12-point efforts from David
Rufful and Kirk Crecco.
Woods was outstanding off the bench with a six-point,
eight-rebound and three-block game.
VanDeest just missed reaching double figures scoring nine points.
Drake finished the affair shooting 44.2 percent from the
field, while the Big Green tickled the twines at a 42.6 percent clip.
The initial stanza between the two teams proved to be a
back-and-forth affair marked by seven ties and five lead changes.
Wedel paced all scorers in the first 20 minutes with 13
points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-for-5 beyond the arc.
The Bulldogs return to action on Thursday (Dec. 23) with a
2:05 p.m. showdown versus Chicago State.
