DES MOINES, IOWA - A late 12-0 run proved to be the catalyst sparking Drake to a dramatic 84-76 victory over Detroit on Saturday (Feb. 19) in the Knapp Center as part of the Sears BracketBusters series.

The victory was the third straight for the Bulldogs in the Knapp Center and enabled Drake to improve its ledger to 12-16 overall, while dropping the Titans to 15-15 on the campaign.

The Bulldogs jumped out of the gates quickly on Detroit as Drake scored 15 of the game's first 21 points to assume a 15-6 advantage.

A 4-0 run cut the margin to 15-10 before senior Ryan Wedel (Minneapolis, Kan./Minneapolis) connected on his second three pointer of the game and the 300th of his collegiate career to extend the lead to 18-10.

Freshman Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill./Centennial) scored 10 of Drake's first 15 points, including a pair of three pointers.

Collectively, the Bulldogs made 10 of their first 14 shots from the field en route to pushing their margin to as many as 12 points, 26-14, after back-to-back thunderous dunks from redshirt junior Kraidon Woods (Henryville, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) and Rice.

The Titans whittled the deficit down to four points before the Bulldogs entered the intermission leading 39-34.

Drake connected on 57.7 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes as compared to a 48.1 percent shooting mark for Detroit.

Rice poured in 16 first-half points, while Chase Simon led the Titans with 11 points.

Detroit proved to be the aggressor coming out to start the second half making six of its first seven shots to erase a nine-point Drake advantage and assume the Titans' first lead, 52-50, on Ray McCallum's triple with 14:40 left in the game.

While the Bulldogs were 4-of-7 from the floor over the same span, Detroit made two three pointers and four free throws to take the lead.

The deficit grew to as many as four for Drake but the Bulldogs remained resolute in their determination to secure the victory as Drake fought back to reclaim the lead, 69-68, on a pair of free throws by Wedel at the 5:55 mark.

The two sides exchanged baskets before Woods, as part of a 12-0 Bulldog run placed Drake ahead to stay, 72-71, with a layup with 4:15 remaining in the contest.

Fueling the surge was five of his career-high 13 points from Woods and dramatic three pointer with 1:53 left in the game by sophomore Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac).

Sophomore Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark./Rogers) salted the victory away at the line hitting a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining.

Rice finished one point off his career high turning in a team-high 22-point performance.  His scoring output pushed him past Josh Young (382 points, 2006-07) into second place on Drake's all-time freshman scoring list with 390 points this season.  Rice is now 23 points shy of supplanting Luke McDonald's school record of 412 points scored during the 2000-01 campaign.

Joining him in surpassing the double-digit plateau was Wedel, Woods, Simons and junior Kurt Alexander (Toronto, Ontario/Pine Ridge Secondary) with 14, 13, 10 and 10 points, respectively.

Simon paced all scorers with a game-high 23 points, while Eli Holman, McCallum and Nick Minnerath added 12, 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Minnerath led all players with a nine-rebound effort, while Woods sparked Drake pulling down six rebounds.

Redshirt sophomore Jordan Clarke (Rockville, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) provided a strong showing on both ends of the court for the Bulldogs distributing a team- and career-best six assists, while also recording six points and five rebounds.

The Titans won the battle of the boards, 33-24, but Detroit committed 15 turnovers versus just 12 for Drake.

The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 56.0 percent from the field, the team's second-highest mark of the season, while holding the Titans to a 50.0 percent shooting night.

The Bulldogs converted those miscues into a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers, while Drake's bench outscored Detroit, 30-9.

The triumph enabled the Bulldogs to improve their ledger to 7-1 all-time in the BracketBusters series.

Drake closes out its home campaign on Wednesday (Feb. 23) hosting Evansville in a 7:06 p.m. contest. Wedel will be honored prior to the game in senior night festivities.