ROSEMONT, Ill. – Seniors Chris Caird (Daventry, England) and Jordan Daniels' (Fontana, Calif.) 36 combined points weren't enough to lead a short-handed Drake men's basketball to victory as the Bulldogs fell, 80-62, at DePaul Tuesday (Nov. 18) night.

Caird scored 19 points on a 3-of-7 night from the three-point arc while Daniels went 7-of-13 from the field for 17 points. Each added a team-high four assists.

“Jordan settled down and made the extra pass and in turn he found himself getting open looks,” said Drake head coach Ray Giacoletti. “He settled down and got into a nice rhythm. It comes back 10-fold if you make a nice pass to someone else.”

DePaul, which led for nearly 39 minutes of the contest, had five players in double-figures with Billy Garrett, Jr.'s 15 points leading the way. The Blue Demons shot 55.1 percent from the field and 45 percent for the three-point arc as the Bulldogs were unable to consistently generate stops to keep pace.

“When you get it back to what we had in the second half, you have to be able to get stops,” Giacoletti said.” Those are things you have to be able to do collectively as a group and get stops. We're undermanned right now without two seniors and we're trying to hold this together and get young guys better.”

DePaul opened the game by hitting five of its first seven bucket from behind the arc to take a 19-8 lead following an 8-0 spurt. That lead ballooned to 26-12 with 6:37 left in the half before the Bulldogs' offense started to find some rhythm. A 10-1 run, capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Caird pulled the Bulldogs within five points, 27-22, with 4:34 left in the half. Caird added another bucket, to account for eight of the Bulldogs' 10 points during that run.

However, the homestanding Blue Demons reclaimed the momentum and quickly stretched the lead back out to double-digits, 34-24, on a three-point play from Jamee Crocket, who finished with 12 points. DePaul added to that advantage to take a 38-25 lead into halftime.

Drake fired the first salvo in the second period with C.J. Rivers (Cahokia, Ill.) scoring two of his six points 40 seconds into the half. The freshman, who started the second half, added five rebounds, an assist and a steal.

“We got some consistency from C.J. with his energy,” Giacoletti said. “He's a slasher that gets his hands on rebounds and is a guy that brings energy.”

Rivers' bucket pulled Drake within 11 points, but that would be as close as the Bulldogs got for the remainder of the contest. Drake pulled as close as 12 points three more times in the period, but all three charges were answered with three-pointers and a dunk to keep Drake from mounting a comeback.

The Bulldogs started two true freshmen in the loss and had three freshmen play more than 20 minutes.

“We did get better tonight,” Giacoletti said. “You always want a little bit more, but right now you have to continue to stay positive. There's going to be some smaller battles now that will lead to winning wars later.”

Drake's next opportunity to get better will come on Saturday, Nov. 22, when the Bulldogs travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan. Tipoff at the Broncos' University Arena is scheduled for noon, CST. Last season, the Bulldogs defeated WMU, 71-68, at the Knapp Center.