DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's
basketball team controlled the entire second half with defense to defeat the
Green Bay Phoenix, 71-54, in the Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters at the Knapp
Center Saturday night.
Senior Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich.) led Drake (13-15,
6-10 MVC) with 16 points by going 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from the
three-point arc. The sharpshooter's night moved him into eighth in career
scoring at Drake with 1,330 career points. Redshirt junior Seth VanDeest
(Bettendorf, Iowa) recorded his second career double-double with 15 points and
10 boards. He was pressed into extra duty in the paint as the Bulldogs were
without the services of the injured Jordan Clarke (Rockville, Md.).
“I thought he played really well on the defensive end as well
and gave us all the energy he had,” Drake head coach Mark Phelps said of
VanDeest's night. “He took care of the ball and got four big offensive
rebounds. Seth had a terrific game tonight.”
Senior Chris Hines (Houston, Texas) added 14 points
while freshman Kori Babineaux (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded a
career-high 10 points.
Drake started the second half hot, converting 75 percent of
its shots to go on a 9-2 run and open up a 51-40 lead, forcing the Phoenix
(15-13, 9-5 HL) to call a timeout with 14:55 on the clock.
“I thought we got some open shots because we were able to
get stops and rebounds,” Phelps said of the spurt to open the second half. “We
were able to put quite a few three-point shooters on the floor and spread their
zone out a little bit. I thought we had good penetration when they played
man-to-man defense.”
Despite the offensive firepower, it was the defense that
generated the offensive burst as Drake held the Phoenix to just 20.7 percent
shooting in the second half while forcing eight turnovers.
“There's no doubt our defense was good tonight,” Phelps
said. “We didn't allow ourselves to go into a lull in the second half. We
guarded and rebounded well. Defense and rebounding are a key for us and I think
we did a really good job, especially without Jordan [Clarke] tonight.”
The Blue and White went on to outscore the Phoenix 34-19 in
the second half and used a 10-0 run capped by back-to-back three-pointers from
Hines to build the lead up to 20 points, 64-44, and put the game out of reach.
“I think we got the ball in the paint more and that helped
us out on the perimeter,” Hines said.
The Bulldogs shot at a 48.1 clip from the field and knocked
down nine three-pointers on the night. Green Bay was held to just 33.9 percent
shooting for the game. Drake held a 37-32 advantage on the boards, despite
Clarke's absence.
After trailing for the majority of the first half, Simons'
hit a three-pointer on the Bulldogs' last possession of the period to give his
team a 37-35 lead at the break. The senior led all scorers at the break with 11
points, and Drake shot 51.9 percent in the half.
“I felt like our defense wasn't great in the first half,”
Phelps said. “We felt like if we stuck with it, especially at the defensive
end, things would work out.”
Keifer Sykes and Brennan Cougill were the only members of
the Green Bay squad to record double figures, each tallying 12 points.
The game marked the Bulldogs' 10th game in the
BracketBusters event which is in its final season. Drake closed out play in the
mid-major showcase event with an 8-2 record and a perfect 5-0 mark in home
games.
The Bulldogs hit the road next for a Wednesday evening
matchup at Indiana State at 6:05 p.m. CST. The game can be heard on KRNT 1350
AM in Des Moines.
