Led by 23 points from senior Shanquan Hemphill, the Drake University men's basketball defeated visiting McKendree, 90-66, Wednesday evening at the Knapp Center.
 
Hemphill was 10-for-13 shooting and helped the Bulldogs shoot 61.8 percent in the team's 21st-straight home non-conference win. The effort also improved the Bulldogs to 5-0 for the first time since 1979-80.
 
"Tank [Hemphill] gives us so much athleticism at both ends of the floor and has a knack for finishing at the rim, which was on display tonight," said Drake head coach Darian DeVries. "He did a great job getting to his spots and elevating over people."
 
Roman Penn and Darnell Brodie scored in double-figures for the Bulldogs with 13 and 10, points, respectively. Brodie's total was a career high that he needed just 15 minutes to achieve.
 
Oliver Stephen led McKendree (2-1) with 11 points and three three-pointers.
 
Hemphill had nine of his points to help the Bulldogs outscore the Bearcats 27-13 in the first 10 minutes of the second half and take control of the contest after a first-half that was too close for comfort for the Bulldogs, thanks in part to McKendree's early three-point shooting.
 
The Bearcats made their first four three-point attempts to take an early 12-10 lead and continued to keep pace with the Bulldogs, despite Drake shooting 14-of-20 from the field in the first 12 minutes of the game. 
 
Those three-pointers would help McKendree keep the game tight early as six of the team's 14 first-half field goals were from behind the three-point arc. Drake did not connect from deep in the first 20 minutes, but did shoot 21-of-34 from the field. 
 
"McKendree really challenged our defense tonight with the things that they do," DeVries said. "We had to cover a lot of guys that could open the floor. Credit to them and how they shoot it."
 
However, the Bulldogs started to connect from the three-point arc to open the second half and Hemphill added nine points in a six-minute span to push past any remaining charge the Bearcats had left. The Bulldogs led by 20 or more points for the final 10 minutes of the game as the reserves again saw extended action with every Bulldog that recorded more than a minute of action scoring. 
 
"I thought the guys did a good job of making some adjustments and getting better defensively, especially in the second half," DeVries said after his team held McKendree to 33 percent shooting in the second half. 
 
Drake puts its home win streak on the line again Sunday when Air Force visits the Knapp Center for a 1 p.m. game. Last season the Falcons and Bulldogs enjoyed a thrilling contest that the Bulldogs claimed, 85-80.