DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University men's basketball team won its lone exhibition game, 95-78, over visiting McKendree University, Saturday afternoon at the Knapp Center.
Junior Kale Abrahamson (West Des Moines, Iowa) led Drake with 22 points in his debut as a Bulldog. Seventeen of his points were scored during the first 16 minutes of the first half and five of his seven makes were from the three-point arc. Graham Woodward (Edina, Minn.), also in the Blue & White for the first time, finished with 18 points and eight assists. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 59.3 from the field and 59.1 percent from three-point range in the win.
"Guys were knocking down shots, it was fun getting out there on the court and we'll go from here," Woodward said.
"This gives a great platform to build off of," said head coach Ray Giacoletti. "Giving up 78 points isn't going to get us where we want to go, but they [McKendree] have something pretty unique in a five-man the likes of which we won't see the rest of the year that can step out and make 6-of-8 three-pointers. We changed our coverages up on ball screens and it was a good learning experience."
That five-man, Darin Winkelman, finished with 32 points on 10-of-15 shooting and connected on 6-of-8 three-point attempts. David Franklin added 23 points for the Bearcats, who faced a 10-point, 36-26, disadvantage in points in the paint.
McKendree stayed within 10 points for the first 10 minutes of the first half as Abrahamson continued to bury shots until Drake built up a 19-point, 49-30, lead with 2:22 left in the period off a Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) three-pointer. Timmer finished with 16 points as Drake carried a 14-point, 51-37, lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs built the lead back out to 20 points in the opening minutes of the second half and would later expand that lead to 28 points, 92-64, on one of C.J. Rivers' (Cahokia, Ill.) four baskets on the evening.
The Bulldogs begin the 2015-16 regular season against Simpson College on Nov. 13 at the Knapp Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the contest being broadcast on The Valley On ESPN3.
