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Composite Calendar
Roman Penn
73
Winner Drake DRA 11-0,2-0 MVC
66
Indiana St. ISU 3-4,0-2 MVC
Winner
Drake DRA
11-0,2-0 MVC
73
Final
66
Indiana St. ISU
3-4,0-2 MVC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Drake DRA 25 48 73
Indiana St. ISU 29 37 66

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

Men’s Basketball Remains Unbeaten And Sweeps Indiana State With A 73-66 Win

Bulldogs improve to 11-0 behind Penn's 21 points

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Led by 21 points from Roman Penn, the Drake University men's basketball team rallied from a 9-point deficit to defeat Indiana State, 73-66, Monday evening at the Hulman Center.

The win made Drake the first 11-win team in the nation and kept the Bulldogs unbeaten on the season at 11-0 and 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Earlier, the Bulldogs claimed an 81-63 win Sunday afternoon to sweep the Sycamores.

"I'm proud of our guys and their ability to stay with it and fight through it against a really good Indiana State team," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries.

Penn's second 20-point game of the season came on 9-of-12 shooting with six assists before leaving the game in the final minute with an apparent ankle injury. However, his understudy, Joseph Yesufu, navigated the Bulldogs to victory with 13 points, including crucial free throws down the stretch.

They were joined in double figures by Shanquan Hemphill's 12 points and Darnell Brodie's 10 points and critical eight rebounds.

Indiana State (3-4, 0-2 MVC) was led by 20 points from Jake LaRavia before he fouled out and 18 points from Cooper Neese. However, the Bulldogs held Neese to just two second-half points. 

"We got everything we anticipated from Indiana State, they came out ready to fight and our guys were too." DeVries said. "It's a league game and it's what conference basketball is all about. It's going to come down to winning by five, six points."

The contest featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes before Drake took the lead with six minutes left on a Yesufu three-pointer. However, Indiana State drew within a point three times until the final minute when a Brodie hook shot followed by a pair of Hemphill free throws gave the Bulldogs a seven-point, 65-58, cushion. In the final minute, the Bulldogs were able to get a crucial turnover and make just enough free throws to collect their fourth road win of the season.

"We were able to make a couple of plays late and get to the rim," DeVries said. "It just took one or two baskets because it was a one-possession game. I thought Tank [Hemphill] and [Darnell] Brodie made big plays, and it came down to the wire."

Penn and Indiana State's Neese dominated the first half as they scored 10 and 16 points, respectively, with Neese going 4-of-4 from the three-point arc. His shooting and a 5-of-8 half from the arc by the Sycamores helped ISU roll out to two 9-point first-half leads, which were the biggest deficits the Bulldogs have faced this season.

Drake trimmed that margin to four points, 29-25, at halftime after scoring five-straight points and holding ISU scoreless for the final three minutes of the half. Drake shot just 41.7 percent in the opening half with 10 turnovers.

The Bulldogs had just one turnover and shot 50 percent in the first nine minutes of the second half to erase the deficit as Penn got the Drake offense back in gear to take the lead in the back-and-forth second half. The Bulldogs only committed two total turnovers and shot 52 percent in the second half while scoring 27 total points off Indiana State errors and limiting the Sycamores to one second-half three-pointer.

The undefeated Bulldogs put their unblemished record on the line next Sunday and Monday with a two-game series against SIU at the Knapp Center.
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