CHARLESTON, S.C. – Drake earned its second win in as many days at the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic, defeating Florida Atlantic on Friday afternoon from TD Arena to earn a spot in the championship game, 75-63.
 
Friday's contest was a battle of mid-majors that defeated power conference opponents in their opening round games to advance to the semifinals. Drake beat Miami, 80-69 to open the tournament, while the Owls defeated Oklahoma State, 86-76.
 
The Bulldog defense showed up again and held the high-flying FAU offense to a season-low 63 points including a season-low 28 points in the first half. The Owls, who came into the contest making and average of 12 three-pointers per game, were held to just five makes from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs also outrebounded Florida Atlantic, 32-23.
 
On the offensive end, Mitch Mascari led the Bulldogs scoring a game-high 22 points, knocking down six three-balls and going a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Bennett Stirtz and Tavion Banks also provided double figure scoring performances for Drake tallying 17 and 12, respectively. Stirtz also made sure to get his teammates involved recording a game-high six assists. On the glass, Drake was led by graduate guard Isaiah Jackson who collected a game and season-high 10 boards.
 
The Owls were led by Leland Walker with 14 points to go along with a team-leading five assists. Tre Carroll and Matas Vokietaitis were next in line for FAU as both had 10 points. Florida Atlantic scored more points in the paint than the Bulldogs (26-22) and received 18 points from its bench.
 
The game started off with Drake facing an early deficit as FAU hit its first six shots from the field to gain a 14-9 advantage. The two teams then traded buckets and leads as the first half of play progressed. The Bulldogs finally gained a little bit of separation with a six-point lead at the 3:19 mark following one of Mascari's three-pointers.
 
When the halftime horn sounded, Drake found itself ahead, 32-28, as back-to-back turnovers from the Owls and Bulldogs ended the half.
 
The second half saw more back-and-forth action as it got underway. Drake and FAU continued to match each other coming deadlocked at 40-40 after a layup from Banks and a three-point answer from Kyky Tandy.
 
The Bulldogs, however, immediately used an 8-0 run over a two-minute stretch to gain hold of a firm lead they would never relinquish.
 
Drake increased its lead all the way to 13 points, the largest lead of the game for either side, at 63-50 following a pair of free throws by Jackson with 5:52 remaining. The Owls were able to cut the Bulldog lead down to five shortly after, but continued defensive pressure and key shot making from the Bulldogs, including making six of their last eight shots, helped Drake to its fifth straight win to open the season.
 
"I thought our guys did a good job of executing for about 30 minutes," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "The other 10 minutes we decided not to execute, but that's what coaching is. We did great and I thought our kids competed and we were able to turn it around, which is a sign of a good team."
 
Drake plays the winner of the Seton Hall-Vanderbilt game in the championship at 7:30 p.m. CST on Sunday.
 
Team Notes
•This marked the third time in the last five years, Drake has won its first five games to start the season: 2022-23 (6-0 start) and 2020-21 (18-0 start).
•This marks the fourth time since 2018 that Drake has advanced to the championship of an early season tournament. The Bulldogs captured the 2018 Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic beating SIU Edwardsville (79-66), Rider (76-58), and New Mexico State (66-63) before stopping San Diego,110-103, in two overtimes to capture the championship. The Bulldogs claimed the 2020 Little Apple Classic in Manhattan, Kan. with victories against South Dakota and Kansas State. The Bulldogs won the 2022 Paradise Jam championship in the Virgin Islands, beating Buffalo (80-72) and Wyoming (61-56) before toppling Tarleton State (71-64) in the championship. 
•Ben McCollum improved his collegiate career coaching record to 399-91 in 16 years.
•Drake, which entered the game ranked No. 9 in the NCAA in scoring defense (55.5 ppg) held Florida Atlantic, which entered the game ranked No. 6 in the NCAA in scoring offense (94.8 ppg), to a season-low 63 points including a season-low 28 points in the first half.
•Drake made 10 three-point baskets, marking the third time this season the Bulldogs have made 10-plus treys in a game
•The Bulldogs outrebounded Florida Atlantic, 32-23.
•Florida Atlantic entered the game averaging 21 fast break points per game but Drake limited the Owls to just three points.
•There were 12 lead changes and seven ties in the game.
•Back-to-back three-point baskets by Mitch Mascari keyed a 16-5 scoring burst in a 4 minute 46 second span enabling Drake to turn a 35-32 deficit into a 48-40 lead it never relinquished.  Tavion Banks added seven points, including five at the free throw line, to fuel the surge. 
•Drake closed out the game making six of its last eight shots, including three baskets by Stirtz.
 
Individual Notes
•Graduate guard Mitch Mascari enjoyed his second 20-plus scoring game of the season (fifth in career) with a game-high 22 points.
•Mascari made six of eight three-point shots. He is now shooting 50 percent (19-38) beyond the three-point arc this season. 19 of his 20 baskets this season have been three-pointers.
•It marked the third time Mascari has made three three-point baskets in a game this season and 27th time in his career.
•Junior guard Bennett Stirtz added 17 points, including 11 in the second half for the second straight game.
•Junior swingman Tavion Banks came off the bench scoring a season-high 12 points — all in the second half.
•Banks made a career-high eight free throws out of a career-high 10 attempts.
•Graduate guard Isaiah Jackson collected a game and season-high 10 rebounds.
•Jackson also made his first three-point basket (after six previous misses) on the season. 
•Stirtz played his third straight game going the entire 40 minutes. He entered today's game ranked No. 8 in the NCAA in playing minutes averaging 36.45 per game.
•Graduate forward Daniel Abreu picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench with 12:58 left in the game finishing the game playing a season-low 25 minutes.
•Stirtz dished out a game-high six assists for the second straight game — one shy of his season high seven against York.
 
The Series
•Drake leads the series, 2-1, having won the last two games. This was the first meeting between the schools since Drake earned a 74-62 home victory Nov. 29, 2002.