DES MOINES, Iowa — The Drake University men's basketball team officially opened the 2012-13 season with a 96-66 win against William Jewell Saturday afternoon at the Knapp Center. Ben Simons (Cadallac, Mich.) led all scorers with 25 points, 18 of which came in the second half. Richard Carter (Detroit, Mich.) had a big game in his debut, scoring 19 points, including going a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range.

“We're happy to get our first win and certainly have a lot of work to do,” Drake head coach Mark Phelps said. “The competition gets a lot tougher next week with Detroit. We're going to have to get better, but that's what is supposed to happen to get better each week.”

The Bulldogs were hot from the field the entire game shooting 55.9-percent as a team on 33-of-59 shooting as well as 15-of-24 from three-point range for a  62.5 percent clip, the ninth highest single-game percentage in school history. At one point in the second half Drake had made 12 of its 15 three-point attempts. Additionally, Drake's 15 three-pointers tied for the sixth most in program history behind nine total three-pointers from Simon and Carter.

“He can do that, he hasn't shown that so far, but he can knock down three's,” Phelps said of Carter's performance. “He's a scoring point guard and he's shown some of that. We want him to play in attack mode all the time. When he plays aggressively he plays better and he needs to be consistent at being aggressive.”

William Jewell was paced by two players in double-figures as Dillon Deck scored 16 points with seven rebounds while Ricky Tisdale added 14 points. As a team, the Cardinals shot 35 percent from the field and 13.3 percent from three-point.

Drake continued its focus of pushing the tempo and applying defensive pressure, which Bulldog fans saw Saturday afternoon. The strategy came to fruition midway through the second half when Kori Babineaux (Sacramento, Calif.) stole the ball, tossed it up court to a streaking Jordan Clarke (Rockville, Md.) who threw Simons a nice bounce pass he converted to a lay-in plus the foul. Drake scored a total of 14 points in transition and 18 off of turnovers.

“He [Clarke] made hustle plays and those are the type of plays we need from him,” Phelps said. “He's become a better passer that's able to drive the floor and find teammates. He's a big key for us.”

Drake also showed the outstanding depth it hopes to employ this season as every available Bulldog got into the game on the afternoon. Line-ups included a mix of experienced veterans and newcomers. The team's bench scored 38 points led by 12 from Joey King (Eagan, Minn.) and nine from Micah Mason (Allegheny, Pa.), who was 3-of-3 from three-point range.

Drake led at halftime 40-32 after erasing an early deficit and leading for most of the half. The visitors opened the game hitting four of their first five shots, to take an 8-4 lead. Simons scored his first basket of the season to kick off an 8-2 run in which Carter hit two of his three first-half three-pointers.

Drake shot a blistering 57-percent in the first half including 6-of-9 from the arc (66.7-percent). Carter was six of seven from the field for 15 points and Simons added seven and three assists in the half.

Simons, a preseason all-MVC selection, took control in the second half. After a few William Jewell baskets Simons scored eight points in just over a minute to extend the Drake lead to 15, 58-43. The Cardinals' defense couldn't contain the senior as he orchestrated a 12-0 run that was capped by back to back three-pointers by Mason and extended the lead to 25.

Drake's largest lead came when Joey King hit a free throw to make the score 94-60 with a 1:49 to play.

The Bulldogs will have a week of practice before they begin a challenging slew of non-conference games on the road. They are next in action Saturday, Nov. 17 at Detroit. Tip-off will be 6 p.m. CST against the Titans, who  won the Horizon League tournament and made the 2012 NCAA Tournament before falling to national runner-up Kansas in the first round. The game is a return game of the 2011 Sears Bracketbusters Series. Drake defeated Detroit 84-76 at the Knapp Center on Feb. 19, 2011 win.