Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012

Bulldogs Drop Road Game At Indiana State

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.--The Drake Bulldogs rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit to take the lead in the second half at Indiana State Wednesday night, but ultimately fell, 61-54, to the red-hot Sycamores, who won their third game in a row.

Box Score | Updated Season Statistics

The Bulldogs dropped to 13-10 overall, 6-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State is now 14-9, 5-7 in the conference. Drake remains in a third-place tie in the MVC standings.

Sophomore Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill.) scored a game-high 17 points and junior Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich.) added 13 points for the Bulldogs, who suffered through their lowest shooting percentage of the season. Drake managed to convert just 18-of-54 field goal attempts for a 33-percent shooting mark.

Indiana State shot 44.5 percent from the field, the eighth consecutive Drake opponent held to a shooting percentage of .500 or lower.

"We can't shoot the percentage that we shot, and come in and win on the road," said head coach Mark Phelps. "So, give them credit on the defensive end. I thought we did a decent job on defense, holding them to two three-pointers for the game and 45-percent shooting, but we weren't very good on the offensive end, and Indiana State deserves credit for that. They packed it in and really limited us in our dribble penetration."

The Bulldogs trailed 32-26 at halftime after climbing out of an early 6-0 hole and then a 26-15 Indiana State lead with 4:41 to play in the half. Drake embarked on an 8-0 run at that point, fueled by back-to-back three-pointers by Simons to pull within five points at 28-23, and then by three at 29-26.

Drake made just four of its first 18 shots from the field-22 percent-and shot 30 percent for the first half overall (8-27).

The Bulldogs had the ball to begin the second half and Drake came firing out of the locker room to drop a 7-0 run on Indiana State. Two buckets by Rice sandwiched around a Jeremy Jeffers (Wilson, N.C.) three-pointer gave Drake its first lead of the game at 33-32 with 18:34 to play.

The game was tied at 35 before Indiana State embarked on a 5-0 run to take a 40-35 lead with 14:49 to play. The Bulldogs battled back to tie the game at 47 with 7:55 to play after Simons converted a three-point play with a bucket and foul, and Jeffers made the second of two free throws.

The basket by Simons, however, which came at the 9:01 mark, was Drake's last field goal until the final minute of the game when Rice and senior Kurt Alexander (Toronto, Ontario) nailed back-to-back three-pointers to narrow the deficit to three points, at 57-54 with 35 seconds to play.

Drake, however, could pull no closer and Indiana State's Dwayne Lathan made six of the Sycamores eight free throws in the final minute to seal the win. Lathan finished with 15 points while Jake Odum scored 14.

The eight-minute, 17-second field-goal drought allowed Indiana State to stretch its lead to as many seven points, at 55-48 with 51 seconds remaining. Drake's competitiveness and stingy defense helped keep the deficit manageable and prevented the Sycamores from pulling away. The missed opportunities on offense, however, ultimately doomed the visiting Bulldogs.

"We weren't executing, and I thought that stretch exemplified that," Phelps said. "I thought we had some good shots, I thought we got in the paint a couple times, we just didn't finish. It was disappointing."

Drake shot just 11-of-20, 55 percent, from the free-throw line, while Indiana State converted 15-of-18. The Sycamores outrebounded the Bulldogs 37-32.

The Bulldogs made 8 of their first 15 second-half field goals before missing eight in a row and ultimately converting just two of their final 12 shots.

Senior Kraidon Woods led Drake with six rebounds to go along with his two points. Jeffers scored eight points and junior Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark.) and Alexander each added 6.

Drake returns home to play Missouri State at 7:06 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Knapp Center. The Bulldogs and Bears are locked in a four-way tie for third place in the MVC with six conference games to play. For tickets call (515) 271-3647 or purchase online at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com.