DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's basketball team clinched its sixth 20-win season in program history and first since 2007-08 with an 84-79 victory over Valparaiso, Saturday afternoon in Missouri Valley Conference play at the Knapp Center in front of 4,035 fans.
Drake (20-7, 9-5 MVC), which never trailed but had to withstand a late charge by Valparaiso (13-14, 6-8 MVC), was led by Brady Ellingson (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) who scored 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including making 4-of-8 three-pointers. Nick McGlynn (Stoughton, Wis.) just missed his 10th double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. McGlynn also added two blocks to become the Bulldogs' all-time leader in career blocks with 134.
"We had that belief in ourselves and it took executing every day in practice in games," said Nick McGlynn of the team reaching the 20-win mark. "We did what had to do to improve every day."
Off the bench, freshman Liam Robbins (Davenport, Iowa) scored nine points, his most points against an MVC foe, in his young career. Robbins added six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in just 10 minutes as he filled in for McGlynn, who battled foul trouble late. Four of his points came late and helped hold off Valpo. Anthony Murphy (Griffith, Ind.) and DJ Wilkins (Merrillville, Ind.) each added nine points as well.
"I thought we played a really good 30 minutes but were a little shaky at the end of each half," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "We had multiple guys step us at different times to give us some contributions. It was a great win and that 20-win milestone is something that every team shoots for, to get that tonight is a credit to the guys and the work they put in."
The Crusaders pulled to within four points with under one minute to play multiple times and made a late flurry with 30 seconds left that was stopped when freshman Garrett Sturtz (Newton, Iowa) drew a charge with 27 seconds left. With the ball on the ensuing possession, Drake broke the press and McGlynn found a streaking Anthony Murphy to seal the victory. Murphy scored the Bulldogs' final five points of the game.
Tremell Murphy (Griffith, Ind.) scored the first points of the afternoon and later a McGlynn dunk forced an early Crusaders timeout with the Bulldogs leading 8-2. At the first media timeout, Drake was shooting a blistering 61.5 percent from the floor with balanced scoring as seven Bulldogs scored, led by Ellingson's six points on two three-pointers.
Anthony Murphy scored a layup at the 4:56 mark to extend Drake's lead to 15 points, 36-21 before Valparaiso closed the half on an 11-2 run to trail by just six points at halftime, 38-30. McGlynn had 10 of his points in the first half while Ellingson scored nine points.
Out of the break, Ellingson and McGlynn scored the team's first seven points, including an and-one for Ellingson. The last two points came courtesy of a nice pass from Ellingson to McGlynn who threw down his second dunk of the day and extended the Bulldogs' lead back to double figures.
Drake shot 47.5 percent from the floor and an impressive 86.4 percent (19-of-22) from the free throw line.
Deion Lavender led Valpo with 16 points while Derrik Smits, Javon Freeman and Ryan Fazekas all had 15 points.
The Bulldogs stay at home for their second-to-last contest inside the Knapp Center as they host Bradley Tuesday night. Tipoff with the Braves is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
