LARAMIE, Wyo. – Wyoming needed 50 minutes and a career-high 32 points from Alan Herndon to hold off a resilient Drake University men's basketball team, 96-89, in double overtime Saturday afternoon at the Arena-Auditorium.
Neither team led by more than 10 points in a contest that featured 15 lead changes and 12 ties before Wyoming (6-2) pulled away in the second overtime.
"We had a lot of opportunities to win this game," said Drake head coach
Niko Medved. "It was right there for the taking and we need to take that next step as a team."
Drake (4-3) was led by 28 points and 10 rebounds from
Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) for his second career double-double. Timmer's scoring came on just 11 shots and a 4-of-5 showing from the three-point arc while also going 10-of-10 at the free-throw line.
Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) added a career-high 20 points with eight rebounds before fouling out midway through the second overtime.
"We fought hard and battled on the boards," Medved said. "Wyoming puts you in some tough defensive situations with five guys who can space the floor."
Herdon added 10 rebounds for the Cowboys and was one of three Cowboys to record a double-double with Justin James added 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while Hayden Dalton had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Despite those totals, Drake and Wyoming each had 52 rebounds with Drake earning 14 second-chance points.
Wyoming opened the second overtime with four-straight points to build a cushion that Drake could not erase. A coast-to-coast layup from
De'Antae McMurray (Alton, Ill.) with 53 seconds left to the margin to three points, 90-87, was the Bulldogs' final charge as Wyoming answered with a three-pointer to take a two-possession lead it would not relinquish.
"Our guys battled to the end," Medved added. "But there were a couple more plays I felt we could have made to walk out of here a winner tonight."
Wyoming led for most of the first overtime, but Timmer forced an extra period with a deep three-pointer with 24 seconds left to tie the contest at 82-82. Wyoming's attempt to win as time expired was thwarted by a clean block from McGlynn to keep the Bulldogs alive.
Prior to the overtime periods, Drake opened the second half with a one-point lead that swapped hands seven times before Drake was held without a field goal for the final four minutes of the half to allow Wyoming to take a 75-73. However, two McMurray three-pointers knotted the contest with 26 seconds left.
That halftime lead looked unlikely at the start of the contest with Drake facing a 10-point, 25-15, deficit to that the team erased to take a 38-37 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs built that lead with a 14-0 run in which they held Wyoming scoreless for six minutes and forced 12-straight Cowboy misses. Timmer scored six of his 13 first-half points during that run including a four-point play that helped fuel the spurt and reverse the Bulldogs' fortunes.
Drake remains on the road for its next contest, a Wednesday, Dec. 6, game at South Dakota. The game will be Drake's third-straight on the road before returning to the Knapp Center Dec. 9 to host Omaha.
