ALBANY, N.Y. – The 12th-seeded Drake men's basketball team battled No. 5 seed Miami before ultimately dropping its first round NCAA Tournament matchup, 63-56 to the Hurricanes at MVP Arena on Friday (March 17). 
 
"I'm incredibly proud of our team's effort tonight," head coach Darian DeVries said. They played their hearts out. I'm certainly disappointed for our group that we weren't able to pull that out, but I thought overall we played a really good 35, 37 minutes, and couldn't quite finish it out."
 
Friday marked the final collegiate game for Sardaar Calhoun, Roman Penn, Garrett Sturtz and D.J. Wilkins.

"We'll always be here and will be a part of the program," Penn said. "I'm grateful and blessed to be a part of this program. The ceiling is super high for these guys."

Both teams took some time to get into a rhythm. Nate Ferguson utilized a post move to sink a layup putting Drake up, 9-5 at the 14:42 mark of the first half before Miami held Drake scoreless for the next 5:16. A Darnell Brodie dunk tied the game, 13-13. 
                                               
Brodie, who finished the game with a season-high 20 points while ripping down nine rebounds, nailed a hook shot to put the Bulldogs ahead 23-19 before the under-4 media timeout.
 
Sardaar Calhoun buried a triple with only 40 seconds left in the opening half as Drake took a 30-25 lead into the halftime locker room. Calhoun contributed 12 points and six boards off the bench.
 
Drake limited Miami to 23.0 percent shooting from the field in the first half (7-for-30), yet five of those made field goals were from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs were 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) from the field including 3-for-9 from deep in the opening frame. 
 
Des Moines' Hometown Team was boosted by a large and loud contingent of Drake fans that made the trek to Albany. 

"We had a lot of fans make the trip out here," Darian DeVries said. I was certainly thankful for that. It was a great environment, great atmosphere. It's what this is all about."
Trailing 36-34 in the second half, Drake embarked on a 10-1 run capped off by a Conor Enright spin move finding Brodie for another bucker and a 44-37 edge with 12:27 to play. 
 
The Hurricanes answered with an equalizing 7-0 run of their own over the next as Nijel Pack connected on a jumper. 
 
Calhoun drained a deep trey from the right wing to extend Drake's lead back out to 53-47 as Jim Larranaga was forced to take a Miami timeout with 6:31 remaining. 
 
Drake's last field goal of the game occurred with 5:40 remaining on the clock and was provided by Roman Penn. Another balanced game from Penn concluded with a stat line of 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists. 
 
Miami finished the game with a 16-1 run over the last five minutes of the contest to move on to the Round of 32 by the final score of 63-56. 
 
TEAM NOTES
•Drake closed the season with a 27-8 record - the second most victories in school history. 
•Drake's NCAA Tournament record is now 6-5, including a 5-2 record in its opening round games. 
•Drake shot 40 percent (22-55) from the floor — its lowest shooting percentage over the last four games.
•Drake's five free throws tied the mark for its second lowest single-game total this season.
•Drake's five free throws and eight free throw attempts also were the lowest ever accumulated by the Bulldogs in an NCAA Tournament game.
•Miami finished the game 23-of-29 from the free throw line (79.3 percent).
•Drake ended the season 7-1 on neutral courts.
*Drake, which owned a 30-25 halftime lead, finished the season 21-4 when leading at halftime.
•Miami outrebounded Drake, 41-35 with the Bulldogs falling to 4-5 when being out rebounded by opponents this season.
•Drake had three players reach double-figure scoring. The Bulldogs are 7-2 when that feat occurs.
•This marked Drake's first loss in three games played on Friday this season and the first time Darian DeVries has ever lost a game on Friday during his collegiate coaching career standing 8-1.
•This was the first time Drake has played a college basketball game in the state of New York since earning a 64-57 victory at Stony Brook on Dec. 1, 1999.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Senior center Darnell Brodie scored a season-high 20 points while collecting a team-high nine rebounds.
Senior forward Sardaar Calhoun came off the bench tallying 12 points, making four of five shots beyond the three-point arc. It marked the fifth time this season he made four-plus treys in a game.
•Graduate guard Roman Penn had 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
•Penn had six assists in the first half, while closing out his collegiate career with a Drake school record 618 assists.
•Graduate guard  D.J. Wilkins made two three-point baskets extending his school career three-point baskets record to 307.
•Graduate swingman Garrett Sturtz closed out his career with a school-record 917 career rebounds.
•Sturtz also collected one steal to move into a tie for No. 6 on the Drake school career steals list at 178 with Nick Grant (2004-07).
•Brodie tied a career high with 14 field goal attempts.
•Drake's Roman Penn, Garrett Sturtz and D.J. Wilkins closed out their Drake careers appearing in a combined 449 games while scoring a combined 4,562 points: Wilkins 1,559 Penn 1624-including his time at Siena; and Sturtz 1,379.
•Sturtz appeared in an MVC all-time record 167th career game (also NCAA active games leader).
•Brodie tied a Drake NCAA Tournament record with two blocked shots in the game.
•Calhoun's four three-point baskets tied for the No. 3 spot on Drake's NCAA Tournament record for individual three-point baskets made sharing the mark with Josh Young and Jonathan Cox who both made four treys against Western Kentucky in 2008.