DES MOINES, Iowa – Missouri State scored 50 second-half points to defeat the Drake University men's basketball team, 79-70, at the Knapp Center Wednesday evening.
Drake (5-14, 0-7 MVC) was led by Reed Timmer's (New Berlin, Wis.) 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. The sophomore has now scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games and seven times overall this season. Classmate Ore Arogundade (Chicago, Ill.) added a career-high 12 points while freshman Dominik Olejniczak (Torun, Poland) also notched a career high with 14 points.
Dequon Miller scored 23 points in the victory for Missouri State (8-11, 4-3 MVC) while Chris Kendrix added 14 points.
Drake shot 46.9 percent in the opening half but just 34.5 percent in the second. Meanwhile, MSU shot 58.1 percent in the second half and held a 25-11 margin in rebounding during the half.
Timmer scored five of the Bulldogs' first seven points to take an early lead and back-to-back three-pointers from Kale Abrahamson (West Des Moines, Iowa) and Karl Madison helped start an 8-0 run to extend that lead. Madison would finish the game with a season-high eight assists as well.
With 10 minutes left in the half, Timmer drained his second three-pointer of the night to give the Bulldogs a 10-point, 20-10 lead as the Bulldogs made 5-of-7 shots from the field leading up to that basket.
Four minutes later, Arogundade buried a three-pointer to give Drake its biggest lead of the half, 32-17. The Bears answered with an 8-2 run to pull back within nine points, but Drake matched MSU scoring to close the half with a 10-point, 39-29, lead at halftime. Timmer scored 10 of his points in the opening half while Arogundade added eight.
However, that halftime lead was short-lived as MSU went on an 11-0 run, spurred by three Bulldog turnovers in two minutes, to take a 43-41 lead four minutes into the second half. Drake briefly retook the lead, 52-51, on an Olejniczak bucket but MSU countered with a 15-2 run to take a 12-point, 66-54, lead with 6:44 left.
The Bears lead remained at double-digits until six-straight points from Drake pulled the Bulldogs within five, 71-66, with three minutes left in the contest. On the ensuing possess, MSU's Dorrian Williams buried a jumper to quickly quell Drake's momentum. The Bulldogs pulled within five points twice in the final two minutes – both on Timmer layups – but could not erase MSU's lead before the Bears departed the Knapp Center with the 79-70 victory.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Loyola. Tipoff against the Ramblers is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the contest broadcast via The Valley On ESPN3
