DES MOINES, Iowa – Conor Enright's energetic first half helped the Drake men's basketball team defeat Grambling State 68-56 on Thursday night inside the Knapp Center.

Enright did not miss in the first half (5-5 field goals, 4-4 from 3-point range) to surpass his previous career-high of 14 points by halftime before finishing with 18.

"I saw that first one go down," Enright said. "My coaches and teammates have been giving me a lot of confidence in practice. I just kept shooting. When we share the ball, a lot of guys get open shots. Tonight ended up being my turn."

The Bulldogs (10-1) settled in during the second half to earn their seventh straight win of the season and 42^nd consecutive non-conference home victory, tying the Missouri Valley Conference record.

"We are a ten-and-one basketball team right now," head coach Darian DeVries said. "We have to feel good about that. Winning is hard and every night is a different night. You have different challenges with every game and different external factors as well. I didn't think we played our best tonight, but we were certainly good enough."

Enright scored Drake's first nine points of the contest and converted not one but two four-point plays draining shots from beyond the arc while being fouled. The second of which provided the Bulldogs a 19-16 advantage at the 10:13 mark of the first half.

Drake extended the run to 12-0 following a Tucker DeVries runner than banked in for a 27-16 lead just ahead of the under-8 media timeout.

Grambling State (2-8) concluded the first half with an 8-0 push over the last 2:48 before halftime, with the Bulldogs leading 35-30 at the break.

The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 12-4 to begin the second half after DeVries connected on a mid-range jumper for a 47-34 edge nearly four minutes into the new period.
Kevin Overton glided to the basket for an easy layup and 57-40 margin with 8:42 to play as Drake pulled away with its largest lead of the game.

GSU continued to battle, but the Bulldogs still earned a double-digit victory at home, 68-56.

"I liked the way we came out in the second half," Darian DeVries said. "We were able to take that lead from five at halftime and extend it. I'd like to see us close up a game a little bit better, but we did some good things."

Drake will be back at the Knapp Center on Tuesday, Dec. 19 against Alcorn State at 7 p.m.

TEAM NOTES

• Drake is on a seven-game winning streak.
• Drake has won 11 consecutive home games dating back to last season.
• Drake extended its non-conference home winning streak that dates back to 2016 to 42 games, the longest streak by an MVC school dating back to 1975-76 since Wichita State (Feb. 2011-Dec. 2016).
• The Bulldogs are the first team in the MVC to reach 10 wins this season.
• Drake has limited opponents to under 60 points in three of its last four games.
• The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 38.2 percent from the field (21-55) to mark the first time this season that they have shot below 40.0 percent. Drake improved to 12-23 when shooting less than 40.0 percent from the field during the Darian DeVries era.
• Drake finished 16-20 from the free throw line compared to Grambling's 12-15 showing as the Bulldogs improved to 76-8 when shooting more free throws than their opponent under head coach Darian DeVries.
• The Bulldogs played and won their first game on a Thursday this season, improving DeVries' record to 12-2 at Drake in Thursday games.
• Drake recorded nine or more steals as a team for the third time this season.
• The Bulldogs have committed fewer turnovers than their opponent in every game so far this season.  
   

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Conor Enright led all scorers with a career-high 18 points (16 in the first half).
• Enright matched his career-high for 3-pointers made in a game (four).
• Kevin Overton notched a team-best and career-high four assists to go along with 14 points.
• Despite shooting 3-17 from the field, Tucker DeVries managed to score 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
• DeVries has recorded three or more steals in a game on five occasions this year.
• With seven rebounds tonight, Darnell Brodie has snagged at least six rebounds in all 10 games he has played this season.
• Brodie and Atin Wright each added nine points tonight.
• Brodie blocked a pair of shots tonight, marking the third time this season that he has swatted away two shots.
• Brodie has 72 blocks over his Drake career, one behind Brent Heemskert (2004-09) for eighth on Drake's all-time blocks chart.

 
THE SERIES

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