DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team got its 2024-25 season underway from the Knapp Center with a contest versus York University on Monday night. The Bulldogs ushered in a new era behind a career night from Daniel Abreu to a 93-41 victory over the Panthers.
 
After York made its opening shot of game, Drake quickly responded with its first bucket as Mitch Mascari drained a three-pointer and the Bulldogs never trailed for the remainder of the night. The Bulldogs then proceeded to race out to a double-digit lead just after the first media timeout with Bennett Stritz connecting on a three-ball.
 
Drake's offensive rhythm continued to flow, while the defense provided the intensity against the Panthers over the first 20 minutes of play. Abreu (19) and Stirtz (11) took charge on the offensive end pacing the Bulldogs for a combined 30 points in the first half. Abreu hit three three-point baskets and scored eight straight points in a 70-second span for the Bulldogs turning a 21-10 lead into a 29-12 advantage with 9:49 left.
 
The Bulldogs shot 53.3-percent (16-30) in the first period, making seven three-point baskets, compared to York at 33.3-percent (9-27) from the field and a 1-7 mark from behind the arc. Drake also forced the Panthers into committing nine turnovers guiding it to a 50-23 lead at the halftime break.
 
The offensive efficiency and defensive pressure continued from the Bulldogs in the second half. Abreu kept his hot shooting night going sinking three more triples en route to a career-high 30 points. Andrew Alia came in off the bench and was the second leading scoring in the period totaling eight points. Stirtz meanwhile added seven points to give him 18 on the night and also dished out a team-leading seven assists.
 
Cam Manyawu led the Bulldogs grabbing 12 rebounds and was one point shy of recording a double-double. Nate Ferguson had an efficient game going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for 11 points while also pulling down five rebounds.
 
Drake's defense held the Panthers to just 18 points down the stretch and forced York into 10 more turnovers leading to the 52-point victory in coach Ben McCollum's first game at the helm.
 
"I thought coming out in that first probably three, four, five minutes we had what I call 'game slippage' where you are just so excited to play that you make a lot of mistakes that you don't typically make," McCollum said. "Probably not noticeable mistakes, but you can feel it from the sideline where we were a little bit stretched out defensively. Offensively, we got flow pretty early we just didn't get the shots we were looking for to start. Once we calmed down, let the excitement die down, then we were able to click offensively and obviously get a ton of assists, shoot a high percentage, and then defensively we cleaned it up that second half as well."
 
Drake continues its season-opening three-game homestand entertaining Stephen F. Austin this Sunday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m.
 
Team Notes
•Drake earned its 22nd straight home victory (dating back to 2023) which is the second longest active streak in NCAA Division I basketball —only behind Houston which won its 23rd straight home game beating Jackson State tonight.
•Drake, winning its eighth consecutive season opener, improved its record to 79-40 in season opening contests.
•The Bulldogs also won their eighth straight home opener dating back to 2017.
•This also marked Drake's 44th consecutive non-conference home victory.
•The 93 points were the most scored by a Drake team in its season opener since beating Buena Vista, 98-52, Nov. 8, 2018.
•The 52-point margin of victory tied for the seventh best in Drake school history: 115-63 over Chicago State Dec. 4, 1973...123-71 over Wisconsin-Platteville Dec. 1, 1971....162-110 over Grinnell Dec. 11, 2002
•Ben McCollum improved his collegiate career coaching record to 395-91 in 16 years.
•Ben McCollum became the 18th coach in school history to win in his Drake coaching debut.
•Drake shot 52.5 percent from the floor, making 31 of 59 shots.
•The Bulldogs hit 43.3 percent from three-point range, making 13 of 30 shots. Drake nearly made as many three-point baskets (13) than the entire amount of baskets (16) made by York
•Drake collected 22 assists on 31 baskets
•Nine players scored points for Drake.
•Drake scored 24 points off 19 York turnovers while collecting 12 steals.
•Drake out-rebounded York, 35-25
 
Individual Notes
•Graduate forward Daniel Abreu scored a career-high 30 points, including 19 in the first half. He bettered his previous high of 26 points at Lincoln (Mo.) Dec. 11, 2021.
•Abreu became the 52nd player in Drake history to score 30-plus points in a game.
•Abreu's 30 points were the second highest scored by a Drake player in a season-opening game, trailing only 36 points scored by Tucker DeVries against Lipscomb Nov. 8, 2023
•Junior guard Bennett Stirtz added 18 points along with a game-high seven assists .
•Sophomore forward Cam Manyawu grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds -- his 11th career double-figure rebounding game.
•Graduate guard Mitch Mascari scored Drake's first points of the season nailing a three-point basket with 18:23 left in the first half.'
 
The Series
•This was the first meeting between the schools.