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Composite Calendar
Penn at Air Force
85
Winner Drake DRA 10-3,0-0 MVC
80
Air Force USAFA 6-7,1-1 Mountain West
Winner
Drake DRA
10-3,0-0 MVC
85
Final
80
Air Force USAFA
6-7,1-1 Mountain West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Drake DRA 44 41 85
Air Force USAFA 34 46 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Drake Athletic Communications

Penn's Career High Leads Men's Basketball To Road Win

Guard takes over down the stretch and finishes with 22 points.

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Drake guard Roman Penn scored a career-high 22 points with nine assists to lead the Drake men's basketball team to an 85-80 road win at Air Force Saturday afternoon.

The win improved Drake to 10-3 to give the Bulldogs' 10 non-conference wins for the second-straight year and just the fifth time in the last 30 years.

Penn was critical down the stretch, scoring 11 of his points in the final nine minutes, including a key three-point play with 42 seconds left to effectively seal the Bulldogs' first road win of the season.

"I love those moments," Penn said. "I'm happy that coach trusts me to make a play when I want to make a play for the team. I want to win and will do whatever that takes."

Penn was followed in scoring by 16 points from Liam Robbins and 12 points from Jonah Jackson as he went 4-of-9 from the three-point arc. As a team, the Bulldogs shot 13-of-28 from the arc, their second-best performance from three-point range this season.

"We knew it was just a matter of time before we had some guys start shooting well again," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "It was contagious that the different guys were making them at different points of the game. I was really excited to see that from our offense."

Air Force (6-7) was led by 24 points from Ryan Swan as the Falcons shot 68.2 percent in the second half to challenge the Bulldogs.

Air Force came out a resolved squad in the second half, quickly erasing a 10-point halftime deficit to take a 57-54 lead seven minutes into the period after eight-straight points. A Noah Thomas three-pointer with 11 minutes left helped stop that Air Force surge and seven-straight points followed to put Drake up 70-62 with nine minutes left. Thomas finished with 10 points, eight in the second half to provide his usual energy off the bench.

However, Air Force did not take that blow without responding as they continued to hit shots with a Swan layup pulling the Falcons within three, 78-75, with 90 seconds left. But the Bulldogs had fight in equal doses as two offensive rebounds extended their next possession, allowing Penn to drive the lane and draw a foul on a made floater. Penn converted on the free throw to put the Bulldogs up six and give the team enough of a cushion to withstand the Falcons' final attempts at a comeback.

"We were able to make a bunch of plays down the stretch, especially Roman Penn," DeVries said. "He was fantastic. He was calling for the timeouts, so I just got out of his way said, 'okay, you go and do your thing.' He certainly did that."
Drake's hot shooting started early as the team made its first six shots from the field to take a 14-6 lead with a 7-0 run. But Air Force clamped down and held Drake scoreless for nearly three minutes before back-to-back three-pointers from Wilkins got the Bulldog offense back in gear. 

Wilkins' spark keyed a 13-2 scoring run that gave the Bulldogs a 27-12 lead as the shots continued to fall while the defense forced turnovers into runout opportunities.

The Falcons trimmed the lead to eight points with four minutes left in the half before Pilipovic and Jackson scored eight-straight points to stretch the Bulldogs' lead out to 16 points, 42-26, with two minutes to play. However, Air Force countered with an 8-2 run to close the half and trim the deficit to 10 points at halftime. The Falcons kept that momentum on the other side of the break until Penn's efforts finally sent the Bulldogs into the holiday break with a win.

The Bulldogs begin conference play next with a Dec. 31 contest at defending Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champions Bradley.
 
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