DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team was back in action for some Wednesday night hoops from the Knapp Center as it hosted the Valparaiso Beacons. The Bulldogs kept their winning ways going, earning their fifth consecutive victory over a pesky Beacons squad, 81-71.
 
Out of the gates, it was a close contest between the Bulldogs and the Beacons. The two sides changed leads back-and-forth seven times between tipoff and the under-12 media timeout with Drake leading at that point, 14-13 following a lay in by Tavion Banks.
 
The Bulldogs then used a 9-0 run over a two-minute spurt to gain some separation from Valpo. A pair of free throws from Daniel Abreu started the run, which also featured a rare two-point bucket from Mitch Mascari and ended on a Kael Combs jumper to give the Bulldogs a 23-13 edge with 8:42 in the period.
 
Drake's offense caught fire from that moment on stretching its lead out to 14 following another three-ball from Mascari at the 2:34 mark. Isaia Howard sunk a three-pointer right before the halftime horn and the Bulldogs went into the locker room with a 43-29 lead.
 
The Bulldogs were efficient from the field the first half sinking 16 of 23 shots for a field goal percentage of 69.6, which marked their best shooting half of the season. Bennett Stirtz paced Drake with 12 points in the period to go along with five assists and three rebounds. Mascari added 10 and Abreu tallied eight with the duo going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
 
The Beacons countered with some offense of their own as play resumed, however. Valpo connected on five of its first nine shots of the second half and a three-pointer from Tyler Schmidt cut the Drake lead back to single digits, 52-43.
 
Mascari's hot shooting from the first half kept up in the second half and kept Valpo at just enough of a distance as the period progressed. The graduate sharpshooter drained three more from long range with just over seven minutes remaining on the clock putting the score at 63-52.
 
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs maintained their double-digit lead over the Beacons, but Valpo wouldn't go away quietly. A late three from All Wright followed by a trio of free throws by Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro made it an eight-point contest with under a minute to play. In the end, Drake did its job from the free throw line to secure the win.
 
"We kind of went into the game knowing that Valpo played as hard as anybody in the country," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "Fortunately, that first half we came out pretty tuned in offensively. Hit some shots and defensively I thought we had a very good game plan. Second half they just kind of went to driving down hill and it became difficult to defend. It was almost like the last two minutes of a game for 20 minutes."
 
Drake hits the road for its next game as it travels to Springfield, Missouri to face the Missouri State Bears this Saturday.
 
Post-Game Notes
—Drake captured its fifth straight victory, while enjoying the third best start in school history with its 17-2 mark — only trailing a 24-1 start by the 2007-08 team and an 18-0 start by the 2020-21 squad.
—Drake improved to 7-2 in the MVC, including a 4-1 league home mark.
—First-year Drake coach Ben McCollum moved his career collegiate coaching record to 411-93, ranking No. 5 among the all-time collegiate coaches in winning percentage at .815, ranking just below legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp and ahead of Hall of Famer John Wooden who led UCLA to 10 NCAA championships.
—McCollum moved into a tie with Mark Phelps (2008-09) and Niko Medved (2017-18) for No. 4 on the most victories list by a first year Drake coach at 17.
—Drake shot 55.3 percent from the floor (26-47) moving to 8-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor.
—Drake shot 69.6 percent (16-23) in the first half, marking the 10th game this season the Bulldogs shot 50 percent or better in the first half. 
—Drake owned a 43-29 halftime lead, improving to 14-1 when leading at halftime this season.
—It marked Drake's fourth double-digit halftime lead of the season and second against an MVC opponent (Belmont 39-21 in Des Moines).
—The Bulldogs, who lead the MVC in steals (9.1 avg.) collected eight steals.
—Drake, which leads the MVC in rebounding margin (plus 7.2), out-rebounded Valparaiso, 27-23 while moving to 16-1 when outrebounding opponents this season.
—There was one tie and seven lead changes
 
Individual Notes
—Junior guard Bennett Stirtz scored a game-high 24 points along with a game-high nine assists.
—It marked the second straight game Stirtz has collected nine assists.
—Stirtz made a season high 11 free throws out of a season high 11 free throw attempts
—Stirtz has dished out six-plus assists in 13 games this season.
—Graduate guard Mitch Mascari added 21 points, making five of nine three-point baskets. It marked the 13th time this season he has made three or more treys in a game and 37th time in a career. It also marked the fifth game this season he has made five-plus treys in a game including the second straight contest.
—Mascari was held to a season-low two points (1-4 shooting) in a previous Dec. 5 game at Valparaiso.
—Drake is 12-1 when Mascari makes three or more three-point baskets in a game.
—Drake graduate forward Daniel Abreu added 11 points, making both of his two shots from three-point range in addition to sinking five free throws.
—Junior swingman Tavion Banks came off the bench scoring 10 points along with five rebounds.
 
The Series
—Drake, winning its eighth straight game against the Beacons, improved its series record to 14-8 against Valparaiso including a 7-1 record in Des Moines.