DES MOINES, Iowa – Defense was the highlight of the night for the Drake men's basketball team as it remained undefeated by earning a win over Georgia Southern from the Knapp Center on Saturday evening, 61-47.
 
The suffocating Bulldog defense carried the load in the match as they held the Eagles to their season-low in points scored. Coming into the contest, Georgia Southern was averaging just over 80 points per game and was shooting 45-percent from the field and 32-percent from beyond the arc. Drake managed to frustrate the Eagles offense to 38-percent from the floor and 13-percent from three-point land.
 
As for the Drake offense, the trio of Daniel Abreu, Mitch Mascari, and Bennett Stirtz led the charge combining to score 39 of the Bulldogs' 61 points. Tavion Banks also chipped in with 10 points off the bench.
 
Stirtz stuffed the stat sheet leading the team with six assists while pulling down six rebounds to go along with four steals. Abreu tied with Cam Manyawu with a team-high seven boards and Mascari continued to score from the outside with his fifth game this season making three or more three-pointers.
 
In the first five minutes of action, the Bulldogs raced out to an early lead following a pair of free throws by Abreu that made the score 12-3. Drake eventually increased its lead to double digits at 24-14 on a made three-ball from Mascari with 7:18 remaining in the half.
 
The Bulldog offense would fall into a slump from that point, however, as it was held without a field goal the rest of the period. When the halftime horn sounded, Drake led 29-23.
 
Georgia Southern was able to pull within three points on a couple of occasions in the early goings of the second half, but the Bulldogs never relinquished their lead.
 
Drake gained back some of its separation at the 10:24 mark as an Isaiah Jackson three-pointer put the lead back to nine, 43-34. A few minutes later, Mascari scored five-straight points to increase Drake's lead back to double digits at 52-41.
 
The Bulldogs remained in control down the stretch to secure their 25th consecutive home victory.
 
"I thought, and I've said this before, you need to win games when you don't play your best," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "I didn't think we played our best basketball on the offensive end. I didn't think we played with great pace, the ball didn't move like it normally did. I think you could probably see a little bit of fatigue from those three games [in Charleston]. But we found a way and the best teams find ways to win when they don't play their best."
 
Drake's next contest will come on the road in its first conference game of the season at Valparaiso on Thursday, Dec. 5 with tipoff slated for 7 p.m.
 
Team Notes
•Drake, winning its seventh straight game to open the season, is off to the best start in school history since the 2020-21 team won its first 18 games.
•Drake is now tied with Houston owning the longest NCAA Division I active home winning streak at 25 games.
•This marked Drake's 47th consecutive nonconference home victory. That is the third longest such streak in Missouri Valley Conference history.
•Ben McCollum earned his 401st career collegiate victory, improving his collegiate career coaching record to 401-91 in 16 years.
•Drake held Georgia Southern to a season-low 47 points.
•The Bulldogs out-rebounded Georgia Southern, 35-27.
•Drake grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, marking the sixth straight game the Bulldogs had collected 10--plus offensive rebounds in a game this season.
•Drake shot a season-low 39.2 percent from the floor, tying a season low with 20 baskets in 51 field goal attempts.
•There were two lead changes in the game.
•Trailing 3-2, Drake reeled off 10 straight points to grab a 12-3 lead it never relinquished.
 
 
Individual Notes
•Graduate forward Daniel Abreu paced a balanced scoring attack with a team-high 15 points, including eight points in the first half.
•Graduate guard Mitch Mascari added 13 points, making three three-point baskets. 25 of his 27 baskets this season have been three-pointers.
•Mascari made all four free throw attempts, extending his streak of making 20 straight free throws to open the season.
•It marked the fifth time Mascari has made three three-point baskets in a game this season and 29th time in his career.
•Drake junior guard Bennett Stirtz played a solid floor game with 11 points with six rebounds while recording game highs in assists (six) and steals (career-tying four)
•Tavion Banks came off the bench collecting 10 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes 51 seconds.
 
 
The Series
•Drake, winning its third straight game against Georgia Southern, leads the series, 3-1 with all four games played in Des Moines. This was the first meeting between the schools since Drake posted an 84-73 victory Dec. 12, 2008, at the Knapp Center.