NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Even without Tucker DeVries, the Drake men's basketball team put together a complete game to snap Belmont's seven-game win streak with a 79-61 road victory at the Curb Event Center on Sunday, Jan. 29.

"I thought our grittiness was off the charts," head coach Darian DeVries said. "We set the tone in the first half diving for balls and winning the 50-50 balls. Our guys executed the game plan to perfection while competing their tails off."

Garrett Sturtz bested Melvin Mathis' career rebounding record of 854 boards with six rebounds today to bring his total to 858.

"I would have never thought five years ago that this would happen," Sturtz said. "Coach DeVries gave me every opportunity when I came to Drake."

Both teams adjusted to each other to begin the game. Okay Djamgouz drilled a wing triple to put the Bulldogs in front, 10-9 with 13:31 left in the first half. The 13-0 Drake run was capped by Sturtz inside bucket with Drake up 20-9 at the 9:00 minute mark.

Belmont trimmed the deficit to five points (25-20) before Drake ventured on a 10-0 run highlighted by a strong finish at the rim by Nate Ferguson for a 15-point advantage with a little over three minutes remaining before halftime.

Ben Sheppard connected on a buzzer-beating mid-range jumper to close out the first half, but the Bulldogs still led by double figures (39-26) at the break. Roman Penn paced Drake with 12 first half points and Ferguson added eight by halftime.

Nearly seven minutes into the second half, Belmont came within single digits again, trailing 52-45.

Drake weathered the storm by pounding the ball inside to create another double-digit margin. Penn once again served the role of closer helping put the game out of reach with a basket at the four-minute mark for a 73-56 lead en route to its third straight road victory, 79-61.

The Bulldogs will return home to play host to rival UNI on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m.

TEAM NOTES
•Drake, earning its third consecutive win, improved to 17-6 overall, including an 8-4 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. 
•Drake collected its third straight road victory, while pushing its road record this season to 3-5.
•Drake shot 55 percent (33-60), improving to 6-0 when shooting 50 percent or better.
•Drake's bench scored 18 points, improving its record 6-0 in Missouri Valley Conference games whenever the reserves score 10 or more points.
•Drake collected 20 assists, marking the third time this season it has collected 20 or more assists in a game - including the second straight road game after dishing out 31 in its last road game at Evansville
•Drake, which owned a 39-26 halftime lead, moved to 13-3 when leading at half this season, including 86-13 under coach Darrian DeVries.
•Drake is 2-1 on games played on Sunday this season and 19-8 during the DeVries coaching era,
•Drake had four players score in double figures, improving its record to 7-1 this season when that feat occurs.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Graduate guards Garrett Sturtz and Roman Penn led a balanced attack with 16 points apiece.
•Sturtz grabbed a team-high six rebounds to become Drake's career rebounding leader at 852, surpassing previous record holder Melvin Mathis who collected 854 rebounds in 110 games from 1982-86.
•Senior center Darnell Brodie added 15 points, including 13 in the second half, along with five rebounds.
•Redshirt junior Nate Ferguson came off the bench to score 10 points — his third double-figure scoring game of the season, including second straight road game.
•Penn dished out a game-high seven assists to improve his school career assists mark to 546.
•Freshman redshirt guard Connor Enright, making his fourth career start (but first in the MVC), had seven points along with a career-high six assists.
•Graduate guard D.J. Wilkins scored seven points as well, while making one three-point basket to push his school career three-point baskets total to 277.
•Sophomore swingman Tucker DeVries, the team's leading scorer (18.9 avg.), missed his first game in his Drake career after appearing in 58 contests because of an infection of his elbow.
 
THE SERIES
•Drake evened the series record at 1-1.