Toumi leads UE in Friday contest
- LOUIS – Tucker DeVries scored a game-high 19 points to pace Drake to a 79-58 victory over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in Friday’s Arch Madness contest inside the Enterprise Center.
“We want to start by congratulating Drake. They set the tone with the physicality on the defensive end and it took us a little while to settle in. It evened out in the second half but it was a little too late,” Evansville head men’s basketball coach David Ragland stated. “I could not be more proud of our group; we have phenomenal people in that locker room. I would not change that experience for the world. Tonight does not define us or who we are.”
Yacine Toumi led the Purple Aces with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Kenny Strawbridge Jr. and Chuck Bailey III had 9 points apiece while Antonio Thomas registered 8. DeVries led a trio of Bulldogs in double figures.
Drake’s quick start saw them open a 5-0 lead. Evansville quickly countered by scoring seven in a row to take their first lead at 7-5. After scoring Evansville’s first basket of the game, Yacine Toumi forced a turnover and took it in for the slam to make it a 5-4 game. That is when Ben Humrichous got on the board with a triple to put UE in front.
Evansville stayed within a possession for the majority of the first half. After the Bulldogs took 6-point edge, Chuck Bailey III hit a nice floater as he drove down the lane and the Aces chopped the deficit back down to three. With 5:16 left in the half, Kevin Overton capped a 7-0 Drake run as they took the first double digit lead of the game at 28-18.
Tanner Cuff made a nice move to cut to the basket and end a scoring drought of just under four minutes before the Bulldogs added seven in a row to extend their lead to 15 as the half entered its final two minutes. The rally for Drake continued as they went into the halftime break with a 43-22 lead. Over the final 8:10 of the period, DU outscored UE by a 22-4 margin.
Converting its first three field goal attempts of the second half, the Purple Aces chopped the deficit down to 17 points. Kenny Strawbridge Jr. registered the first basket of the second half while Gage Bobe added a triple and Toumi moved into double figures with his fifth basket of the contest. Another quick spurt by the Bulldogs saw them take a 54-31 advantage with 16:27 remaining.
The final 16 minutes of the night saw the lead hover between 18 and 26 points. UE was poised to cut the deficit to under 18 as it attempted a comeback, but Drake answered each time and completed the night with the 79-58 win. The Bulldogs completed the night shooting 41.9% while the Aces checked in at 41.8%. Drake finished with a 37-31 edge on the boards.
UE finished the season with 16 victories is awaiting the potential opportunity for postseason play.
“We are going to talk about it and see what is best for us as a team,” Ragland said. “Leaving things better than you find them is important and the respect this group has earned from other teams in the Valley, around the country, officials and fans around the country has been impressive. Just to be talking about it is a great thing for our program.”
