George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands – Guards Kevin Overton and Atin Wright each scored 22 points, but a plethora of Bulldogs played a part in Drake men's basketball's 85-77 victory over Oakland in the opening round of the Cayman Islands Classic on Sunday (Nov. 19) at John Gray Gymnasium.
 
"I'm really excited about the outcome and how we hung in there," head coach Darian DeVries said. "Early in the season you never know what to expect. Especially with the roster we have right now. A lot of new faces. I thought the guys did a great job of making adjustments in the second half."
 
Drake (3-0) made 12 three-point baskets with Overton hitting five treys and Wright connecting on three from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs owned a slim 37-36 halftime advantage thanks to a runner by Colby Garland with time running out in the first half.

There were 17 lead changes and 10 ties in a seesaw battle before Darnell Brodie got hot for the Bulldogs at the right time scoring eight points in a 5:43 span late in the game.
Trailing 64-63 with 6:47 left Brodie made two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 65-64 lead they never relinquished. Wright and Overton followed with a jumper and three-point basket, respectively, to give Drake a 70-66 advantage.

Baskets by Brodie later gave Drake a pair of nine-point leads before the Bulldogs sealed the victory by making six free throws in the final 30 seconds.

Brodie finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

"I thought what Darnell (Brodie) brought the last 10 minutes of the game was terrific," Darian DeVries said. "Conor Enright and Colby Garland were awesome at defensively shutting down their leading scorer or at least making it hard on him. Overall, I think this is a great team win. Not all of the great contributions showed up on the stat sheet, but we made some really big defensive plays throughout that last 15 minutes."

Tucker DeVries scored five points but still made his presence known by tying a career-high with 11 rebounds while collecting three steals and three assists. Five Bulldogs distributed three assists or more in the game.

The Golden Grizzlies committed 18 turnovers with Drake scoring 28 points off those miscues.

Oakland (1-3) shot 51.7 percent from the floor (30-58), while Drake shot 46.2 percent (30-65).

Drake advances to the semifinal round against Stephen F. Austin at 12:30 p.m. (CT) on Monday, Nov. 20.  
 
TEAM NOTES

• The Bulldogs are 3-0 to start the season for the fourth consecutive year.
• Drake improved its neutral site record to 24-13 during the Darian DeVries era.
• The Bulldogs are 95-13 under Darian DeVries when leading at halftime.
• Drake has scored at least 85 points in all three games so far this season.
• The Bulldogs improved 57-1 in the Darian DeVries era when scoring 80 points or more.
• Drake is 21-10 on games played on Sunday under the leadership of Darian DeVries.
• As a team, the Bulldogs dished out 22 assists.
• Drake finished the game shooting 30-of-65 (46.2 percent) from the field including 12 made 3-pointers.
• The Bulldogs were 13-of-15 from the free throw line.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Kevin Overton put up his first career collegiate 20+ point game, finishing with 22 points.
• Atin Wright (22 points) put together back-to-back 20+ point games as today marked the 18^th time in his career scoring more than 20 points.
• Darnell Brodie turned in his second double-digit scoring game in as many games played this season, the 34^th double-digit scoring contest of his career.
• Tucker DeVries matched his career-high of 11 rebounds.
• DeVries has had back-to-back games with three or more steals.
• Conor Enright (five) was one assist shy of his career high.
• Colby Garland submitted early career highs of eight points and four assists. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Today was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.