NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Drake men's basketball team began a stretch of two-straight road games on Tuesday night and suffered a loss to current Missouri Valley Conference leaders Belmont by a score of 103-90.
 
It was a fast-paced shooting clinic inside the Curb Event Center to start the game between the Bulldogs and Bruins with both sides making shots from beyond the arc. Drake hit a string of three long balls in-a-row courtesy of Eli Shetlar and Owen Larson to provide a quick spark. Belmont, however, countered with some hot shooting of its own, including a stretch of hitting six of seven attempts, which allowed it to grab a 26-18 lead just past the 12-minute mark.
 
Following two more triples by Shetlar and Andrew Alia, the Bulldogs cut the deficit down to just two, but another counterpunch by the Bruins off a 9-2 run, brought the deficit back up to nine in a hurry.
 
Drake's three-point shooting helped keep it within striking distance as the first half came to a close with the Bulldogs sinking 8-of-13 attempts, but for every score Drake had, the Bruins seemed to have an answer.
 
The Bruins ended the half hitting two three-balls of their own, including an Eoin Dillon jumper with just two seconds before the half ended, and the home side went into the locker room up 51-43. Comparatively, Belmont went 10-of-17 from three-point range and forced the Bulldogs into seven turnovers leading to 13 points.
 
When the game picked back up for the second half, Drake's deficit grew larger with the Bruins switching their attack to an inside game. Belmont went down low and poured in a quick seven points, which forced a timeout from the Bulldog bench.
 
An adjustment during the timeout saw the Bulldogs, mainly playing through Jalen Quinn, cut the deficit back down to six, 61-55, at the 13:52 mark, but a shooting cold spell of over four minutes by the Bulldogs helped balloon Belmont's lead up to 14 with 11 minutes to go.
 
Drake would get as close as nine on a couple of occasions, but a late explosion from Sam Orme with three consecutive triples sealed the game away.
 
"[Belmont] is pretty lethal offensively," Drake head coach Eric Henderson said. "You got to pick your poison a little bit and we had some fight, but at the end of the day it was some hard matchups for us. We were switching a little bit, we were kind of changing the way we were guarding at times, and they took advantage of it and got us on a couple of matchup situations."
 
Drake now heads to Illinois State for a contest against the Redbirds on Friday, Feb. 6. Tip-off from Normal is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT.
 
Team Notes
—Drake, suffering its second straight loss, leveled its record to 12-12 overall including a 6-7 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
—The Bulldogs evened their record to 4-4 in road games.
—There were two lead changes and two ties in the game.
—Drake outrebounded Belmont, 35-26, including a 10-8 advantage on the offensive boards.
—Drake shot 53.3 percent from the floor (32-60), including 50 percent (16-32) in the second half. It marked the fourth time in the last five games the Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better in the second half after hitting 55.2 percent (16-29) in the second half against Murray State Jan. 21, 57.6 percent in the second half (15-26) at Indiana State Jan. 24 and 56.5 percent (13-23) against Evansville Jan. 28.
—Drake shot 50 percent from three-point range (14-28), marking the third time this season the Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better beyond the three-point arc.
—Drake has made 31 three-point baskets in two games against Belmont. That's the most the Bruins have allowed to an MVC opponent that it has played twice this season.
—It also marked the eighth game Drake has made 10 or more three-point baskets in a game with the 14 treys tying for third highest in a game trailing 19 against Western Illinois, 17 in an earlier home game against Belmont and 14 against North Dakota State.
—Drake's 19 assists were the most by the Bulldogs over the past 13 games.
—Drake fell to 4-11 when trailing at halftime.
 
Player Notes
—Senior transfer guard Jalen Quinn enjoyed his 13th 20-plus scoring game of the season, leading Drake with 22 points—14 in the second half.
—The 13, 20-plus scoring games also are the most by a player in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
—It marked Quinn's seventh straight 20-plus scoring game. He is averaging 27.1 points during that stretch: 21 at Southern Illinois, 28 at UIC, 34 vs. Murray State, 27 at Indiana State, 26 vs. Evansville, 32 vs. Bradley, and 22 at Belmont.
—Quinn made a season-high five three-point baskets, marking his third game with three or more three-point baskets this season.
—Guard Jaehshon Thomas chipped in with 16 points, surpassing his entire combined output of 12 points in his last three games. Thomas, who made all five free throws, added four assists and four rebounds.
—Junior Andrew Alia and sophomore transfer Owen Larson added 14 points apiece.
—Alia made all four free throw attempts, extending his string to 28 consecutive free throws made.
—Eli Shetlar scored nine points - on three three-point baskets in the opening 8:45 of the game - but did not play in the second half after suffering a sprained ankle late in the first half.
—It marked the ninth game this season that Shetlar has made three three-point baskets in a game including the second straight contest.
—Larson and sophomore transfer Okku Federiko led Drake with five rebounds apiece.
—Wilguens Jr. Exacte, who had started in 13 games, missed his tenth consecutive game because of a foot injury.
 
The Series
—Drake, suffering its second straight loss to Belmont, still leads the all-time series, 5-4 including a 1-2 mark in games played in Nashville.