LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Seniors Nick Norton and Brady Ellingson combined for 56 points in a wild 110-103 double-overtime victory for the Drake University men's basketball in the championship game of the Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic. The Bulldogs dispatched San Diego after 50 minutes action with big play after big play from nearly every player on the roster.
 
"I'm so proud of these guys," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "We didn't have it in the first half and we challenged them to leave it all on the floor in the second half. From an effort and tenacity standpoint, they took advantage of that. They never folded and kept fighting and making plays. It was just an awesome basketball game."
 
Drake (10-2) trailed by as many as nine points in the second half before rallying to tie the game at 83-83 with two seconds left on an Ellingson three-pointer off a pass from D.J. Wilkins. Ellingson scored 23 of his career-high 25 points in the second half to eventually propel the Bulldogs to the win.
 
In overtime, Norton, the tournament MVP, took over with 21 of his 31 points coming in overtime as he continued to make plays, each successively bigger than the previous. With less than two minutes, he buried a three-pointer to give Drake a 90-87 lead and later hit a pair of free throws to put the Bulldogs up 92-91 with 30 seconds remaining. He continued to dominate the second overtime, converting on two three-pointers in the first three minutes of the second overtime and making 8-of-8 free throws down the stretch to pull away from the Toreros for the tournament title.
 
Norton's 31 points came on 5-of-9 shooting from the arc and a 10-of-10 night at the free-throw line with seven assists as well. Ellingson was 4-of-6 from three-point range for his career-high 25 points while Nick McGlynn added 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting with nine rebounds before fouling out in overtime.  Both Ellingson and McGlynn were named to the all-tournament team along with Norton. McGlynn scored 14 points in the first half to help keep Drake in the game while the Bulldogs struggled early against USD to allow the Toreros a 41-33 halftime lead.
 
The rest of the roster followed McGlynn lead's in the second half, bouncing back to shoot 60 percent in the half to slowly erase the deficit, forcing the wild overtime periods and continuing the Bulldogs' best start to a season since 2007-08.
 
"This proves that what they're doing is working in terms of their effort togetherness and love for the game," DeVries said of the team's successful start and trip to the Las Vegas Classic.
 
The Bulldogs take a brief break for the upcoming holiday before returning to the Knapp Center to host McKendree Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. in the Knapp Center.