DES MOINES, Iowa – Balanced scoring and a big outburst in each half lifted the Drake University men's basketball team to a 97-53 victory over St. Ambrose at the Knapp Center Sunday afternoon.
 
Senior Jonah Jackson and freshman Okay Djamgouz led with 12 points each, a season high for both, as the Bulldogs improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 1979-80 season and won their 20^th straight non-conference game at home.
 
Five other players scored at least nine points for the Bulldogs, who shot 52.1 percent and reached season highs for points and 3-pointers (14).
 
"Today we got the opportunity to go against some different defenses that we haven't seen," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "That was certainly beneficial early in the season. We got to play a lot of guys and got some valuable minutes there."
 
Freshman Bryceson Burns contributed 11 points for the Bulldogs, while Joe Yesufu and Shanquan Hemphill each scored 10. All-MVC point guard Roman Penn was solid again with nine points, six assists and two steals. D.J. Wilkins also scored nine on 3-for-5 3-point shooting, following up on his 4-for-4 performance from behind the arc in Thursday night's victory over Omaha.
 
In all, 13 players scored for the Bulldogs and no one played more than 20 minutes.
 
"Any time you get an opportunity to get younger guys into the heart of a game, you can see the enthusiasm from all of our guys when they go in," DeVries said. "They see how hard they work in practice and their development. The genuine excitement they have for each other is really good to see and says a lot about the culture we have in our locker room."
 
Drake held its NAIA opponent from Davenport to 29.7 percent shooting and piled up a 44-12 edge in points in the paint.  The Bulldogs got 62 points from their players off the bench.
 
St. Ambrose, which lost at UNI Friday night, kept it close for a while with its scrappy play, trailing just 29-24. But the Bulldogs held the Bees scoreless the final 6:48 of the first half and rattled off 13 points to take a 42-24 lead at the break. The highlight was Penn's lob to Tremell Murphy for a dunk and Penn finished off the run with a short jumper and driving layup in the final minute of the half. Murphy finished with seven points and a team-high six boards.
 
A 14-0 run that included a pair of 3s from Jackson – he finished 4-for-8 from deep – stretched the lead to 62-31 with 13 minutes remainig and the starters soon left the game for good.
 
John Kerr led St. Ambrose's effort with 18 point and nine rebounds.
 
Drake continues its homestand against McKendree at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9.