DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University men's basketball team made its first 10 shots of the game and rolled out to a 16-point lead before preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Loyola rallied to defeat the Bulldogs, 85-74, at the Knapp Center Saturday afternoon.
 
"I thought we came out with great energy and a great sense of purpose," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "Loyola really showed their experience. They didn't get rattled. They stayed with what they do and executed. They were really good today."
 
Loyola (9-6, 2-0 MVC) erased that first-half deficit before halftime and maintained its lead through the second half with big performances from Marques Townes and Clayton Custer. Townes finished with 28 points while Custer added 26. The Ramblers shot 63.3 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from the three-point arc to hold off the Bulldogs.
 
"Townes was awesome today, he played like a vet and put them on his back," DeVries said "As did Clayton [Custer]. Those two guys were tough for us to get a handle on."  
Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) led Drake (11-4, 0-2 MVC) with 21 points and seven rebounds while D.J. Wilkins added 16 points, including three-straight three-pointers to help the Bulldogs take the big first-half lead. Noah Thomas (Sydney, Australia) made his first career start in the place of the injured Nick Norton and had eight points, five assists and two steals.
 
"I thought Noah did a great job," DeVries said. "He came out and hit a couple of threes, managed the offense well and did a lot of good things."
 
Thomas' team-high five assists helped the Bulldogs finish the game shooting 51 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from three-point range.
 
Drake made its first seven shots from the floor, including four three-pointers to roll out to an early 21-11 lead with McGlynn scoring 10 or those points.
 
That torrid shooting continued with three-straight deep three-pointers from Wilkins to push Drake's lead to 30-14 with 12 minutes left in the opening half. The Bulldogs didn't miss a shot until nearly nine minutes had expired, but were then off the mark on four of their next five attempts at Loyola began to chip away at the Drake lead.
 
Loyola eventually erased its deficit with a 19-5 run capped by a Marques Townes three-pointer with 4:25 left in the half to tie the score at 35-35. The Ramblers took their first lead a minute later on the first of back-to-back Custer three-pointers. The Ramblers closed the half on an 11-3 run to take a 46-40 lead into the locker room. That spurt was part of a larger 32-16 close to the final 12 minutes of the half for the defending MVC Champions.
 
Loyola stretched its lead out to as many as 15 points, 62-47, with 13 minutes left before Drake trimmed that margin to single digits twice. However, every time Drake threatened, Loyola answered with a score from Townes and Custer.
 
"You could feel us crawling back into," DeVries said. "We just needed two or three stops in a row, but Loyola got big baskets when they needed and we couldn't get any closer."
 
The Bulldogs remain home for their next contest when they host SIU Tuesday evening at the Knapp Center. Tipoff against the Salukis is scheduled for 7 p.m.