EVANSVILLE, IND. - Drake's struggles rebounding the ball have been noted all
season and they again were problematic as Evansville parlayed a 40-31
rebounding advantage into a 67-51 victory on Wednesday (Jan. 12).
The Purple Aces used those rebounds to outscore the Bulldogs,
38-18, in the paint, en route to evening their ledger at 8-8 overall and 2-4 in
the Missouri Valley Conference.
Drake saw its record fall to 7-10 and 2-4 in league action.
It was a back-and-forth affair early in the contest as
Evansville held a slim 12-11 lead after freshman Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill./Centennial)
connected on a three pointer with 10:59 left in the half.
The Purple Aces though went on a 15-2 run to stretch the margin
to 27-13, before sophomore Seth VanDeest (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) hit a pair of free
throws at the 4:17 mark to make it 27-15.
The Bulldogs regained the momentum with a run of their own
scoring seven of the next nine points to cut the deficit to 29-24, with 1:34
left before halftime.
Evansville closed the stanza on a 6-0 run to secure a 35-24
halftime lead.
Rice paced Drake with a seven-point, first-half effort,
while 11 points from Ned Cox led the Purple Aces.
The Bulldogs connected on 34.8 percent of their shots in the
first 20 minutes, while Evansville registered a 51.9 percent shooting mark.
Drake whittled into the Purple Aces' lead in the second half,
cutting the margin to 44-40, with 12:49 left, but couldn't get the defensive
stop when it needed them most. Evansville scored 14 of the next 19 points to
assume a 61-45 lead with 7:30 remaining and didn't look back en route to
posting the victory.
An 11-point performance from sophomore Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac)
highlighted the Bulldogs' effort, while VanDeest contributed 10 points. Rice finished with an eight-point,
seven-rebound outing and sophomore Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark./Rogers) chipped in
seven points off the bench.
Cox led four Purple Aces in double figures with a game-high
15 points, while Pieter van Tongeren, Colt Ryan and Clint Hopf recorded 12, 11
and 10 points, respectively.
Falling a point shy of a double-double for Evansville was
Kenneth Harris with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Purple Aces registered a 45.6 percent shooting mark,
while the Bulldogs connected at a 34.0 percent clip.
Drake returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 15) hosting
Wichita State at 7:06 p.m.
