Late rally sends Drake to 88-76 win over men’s basketball

Dru Smith has career game in the loss

 DES MOINES, Iowa – Freshman Dru Smith had the best game of his career, finishing with 14 points, but Drake finished the game on an 18-4 run to earn an 88-76 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Sunday at the Knapp Center.

Smith hit three triples in the game for the Purple Aces (10-7, 1-3 MVC).  Jaylon Brown was the leading scorer for UE, totaling 23 points.  Duane Gibson finished the day with 14 while Ryan Taylor hit double figures with 10.

“Our guys did a good job today, we fought back from an early deficit and took a late lead,” UE head coach Marty Simmons said.  “It is disappointing to come out with a loss, but we will be ready to go at Missouri State on Wednesday.”

Reed Timmer led the Bulldogs (4-12, 2-2 MVC) with 28 points.  He was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.  Timmer was one of five Bulldogs to hit double figures.  Ore Arogundade notched 17.

Out of the gate, the Bulldogs scored the first four points and hit 4 of their opening 5 buckets on their way to a 10-2 lead.  Dalen Traore came in off the bench with an and-one to get UE back within five.

After UE finished off a 5-0 rally to make it a 10-7 game, Drake responded with a run of their own, scoring 11 of the next 16 points to take their biggest lead of the half at 21-12 with 11:27 left in the period.  Evansville fought its way back in the final moments before halftime, clawing its way within a point at 33-32 on a Traore free throw before the Bulldogs pushed their lead back to four at the break, 38-34.  Jaylon Brown led all players with 15 tallies through the first 20 minutes.

Drake registered the first five points out of the locker room to match their largest advantage at nine points before the Aces changed the course of the game with a response of their own.  Trailing 51-45, the Aces notched nine in a row to take their first lead of the game.  With 14:05 remaining, a short jumper courtesy of Ryan Taylor gave UE a 52-51 edge before a Dru Smith bucket capped off the 9-0 stretch.

The lead swapped five times over the next eight minutes as Smith’s career effort continued.  With the Aces down 64-63, Smith’s third trey of the day put UE back on top.  After a Bulldog layup tied the score, Ryan Taylor connected on his first triple to give UE a 69-66 advantage.  Four in a row by Drake saw them take a 70-69 lead with just over four minutes left but Taylor connected from long range again as Evansville took a 72-70 lead inside of four minutes remaining.

A triple by Ore Arogundade was part of a 14-0 run that made the difference in the game.  Over three minutes, the Bulldogs turned a 2-point deficit into an 84-72 lead.  Drake hit five shots in a row.

Evansville outshot Drake, 48.3%-45.9% in the game, but the Bulldogs had a 36-30 edge on the boards.

Missouri State is up next for the Aces as they head to Springfield on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. to take on the Bears.