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Liam Robbins vs. Loyola
Chris Donahue
62
Loyola Chicago Loyola 10-6,2-1 MVC
65
Winner Drake DRA 12-4,2-1 MVC
Loyola Chicago Loyola
10-6,2-1 MVC
62
Final
65
Drake DRA
12-4,2-1 MVC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Loyola Chicago Loyola 34 28 62
Drake DRA 38 27 65

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

Robbins Scores 20 To Lead Drake Over Fellow League Co-Champ Loyola

Bulldogs win 13th-straight game at the Knapp Center

DES MOINES, Iowa - Despite being saddled with the flu, sophomore forward Liam Robbins scored 20 points with nine rebounds and matched a school record with seven blocks to lead the Drake University men's basketball team to a 65-62 win over Loyola Tuesday night. 

The win over its fellow 2018-19 Missouri Valley Conference co-champion was Drake's 13th-straight home win and improved the Bulldogs to 22-2 at home under second-year head coach Darian DeVries.

Robbins missed pregame practice and received intravenous fluids throughout the day to muster a career performance.

"He's been playing at such a high level these last couple weeks and tonight was certainly one of his best," Drake head coach Darian DeVries said of Robbins. "With seven blocks and what he did on the offensive end with 20 [points] and nine [rebounds] to go with it was an incredible effort by him that took tremendous courage. Obviously, he was a huge difference in the outcome."

In addition to Robbins' performance, Drake (12-4, 2-1 MVC) got 11 points and seven rebounds from Anthony Murphy and nine critical points and other heady plays from Garrett Sturtz. Roman Penn continued his pace as one of the nation's top passers with 10 assists.

Cameron Krutwig, the reigning MVC Player of the Year, led Loyola (10-6, 2-1 MVC) with 14 points and seven boards while Tate Hall added 15 points.

As a team, Drake held its biggest rebounding advantage of the season by outrebounding the Ramblers, 42-20, and needed each of those in a contest that came down to the final possession.

Drake held a five-point, 65-60 lead with a minute left that was trimmed to a possession by a Krutwig layup with 47 seconds left. Following a timeout, Drake's next possession came up empty. However, the Bulldogs defended for the final 19 seconds of the game and forced a pair of long Loyola three-point attempts that were off the mark to preserve their home-court dominance.

The lead swapped hands eight times during the evening, but Loyola only led for 90 seconds of the game as Drake answered every punch the Ramblers landed.

After a quick bucket to open the second half, Drake was held scoreless for nearly four minutes as Loyola briefly claimed a 41-40 lead before Robbins' second three-pointer of the night out the Bulldogs back on top. That started an 8-3 run capped by Jonah Jackson's second three-pointer of the night to put Drake up, 48-44, with less than 14 minutes left in the half. Five minutes later, a 7-0 Drake spurt put the Bulldogs up 55-48 before Loyola again mounted a rally. 

The Ramblers drew with three, 63-60, on a Tate Hall three-pointer with less than two minutes remaining before Robbins scored his final points of the night to set up the thrilling final minute. 

Drake's shooting was hot early to help the Bulldogs roll out to a 19-14 lead and force the Ramblers to take a timeout eight minutes into the game. While the shooting cooled, the Bulldogs still shot 55 percent in the opening half with Murphy and Robbins combining for 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting with 11 boards between them. 

The Bulldogs nearly stretched the lead out to double figures in the final three minutes of the half before Loyola closed the period on a 7-2 run to trim the margin to four-points, 38-34, at halftime. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Ramblers 22-7 in the first half with nine offensive boards to extend possessions. 

The Bulldogs ended the contest shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 9-of-23 from the three-point arc with Jonah Jackson converting on three of those three-pointers.

Drake takes its fortunes on the road next with its annual visit to the league's newest member, Valparaiso, Saturday afternoon. The trip will be a homecoming for the five Bulldogs who hail from Northwestern Indiana.
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