Box Score

DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake finished the game on an 38-15 run after Evansville cut the lead to one as the Bulldogs picked up a 78-54 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Sunday evening at the Knapp Center.
 
Evansville (12-13, 7-8 MVC) cut a 7-point halftime deficit to just one with 11 minutes remaining before an unbelievable 20-4 run by Drake (14-12, 7-8 MVC) over a 4-minute stretch proved to be the game changer.
 
Denver Holmes was the top scorer for the Aces, tallying 16.  Kenneth Harris was the other UE player in double figures, notching 12.  After scoring a season-low of six points in the first meeting, Colt Ryan was held to just seven in Sunday’s rematch.
 
After shooting over 60% in the first meeting of the season at the Ford Center, Drake was hot at the beginning, knocking down a pair of threes in the opening two minutes.  Back-to-back buckets by Kenneth Harris and Ryan Sawvell got UE on the board, but following a save on a sure turnover, Aaron Hawley hit the Bulldogs’ third trey of the game to make it 9-4 less than four minutes in.
 
Three minutes later, the Bulldogs extended their lead into double figures for the first time as Aaron Hawley knocked down his first three.  At the 11:30 mark, Drake connected on its fifth three-pointer as Jeffers hit his second of the game to make it 17-4 in favor of the Bulldogs.  A Harris bucket ended the 11-0 run.
 
Harris’ bucket was just a temporary fix as Drake continued to add to the advantage while beginning the game 6-of-10 beyond the arc en route to a 23-10 advantage over the first ten minutes of the game.  Evansville began to fight back, going on an 11-4 run as Denver Holmes and Sawvell recorded buckets.  With just over four minutes left in the period, Holmes connected on the first trey of the game for the Aces, cutting the deficit to just a half dozen at 27-21.
 
Holmes, who notched a game-high 14 points in the opening period, hit his second trey of the game a minutes later to get UE back within five before entering the locker room down by a 33-26 tally.  Evansville was able to cut into the deficit thanks to its defense.  After allowing the Bulldogs to hit eight of their first 14 shots, DU hit just four of their final 12 attempts of the period.   The first half was nearly a carbon copy of the first meeting of the season.  In that game, DU started off the game on fire, opening up a double-digit first-half lead before being up by seven at the half.
 
The deficit quickly went back into double figures as the Ravonte Rice, a 21% three-point shooter on the season, made it 2-3 from long range to push its lead back up to ten, 36-26.  Another Drake bucket made it a 12-point deficit before a game-changing run was put forth by UE, this one a 15-2 stretch that saw Colt Ryan knock down his first field goal of the game, a three-pointer that finished off the run and brought UE back within a possession at 40-37.
 
A tip-in by Sawvell helped the Aces get back within one point before the Bulldogs put an end to the run.  The momentum changer came as the Aces had a chance to take the lead.  Down 40-39, Ned Cox missed an open dunk, which sent the momentum the Bulldogs way.  Over the next four minutes, Drake outscored the Aces by an unbelievable 24-4 run to go up 64-43.
 
Evansville would not get any closer over the remainder of the game as Drake pulled away for the 78-54 win.
 
Several Bulldogs were in double figures, led by an 18-point performance by Jordan Clarke, who hit 7-of-11 shots while tallying a game-high 12 boards.  Kurt Alexander finished with 16 while three others were in double digits.
 
Drake finished with a solid 37-25 rebounding advantage while outshooting the Aces .536-.368.
 
It is back to the Ford Center for UE, who will play three of its final four games at home, including a pair in the next six days.  On Wednesday, Evansville will look for the season sweep of Northern Iowa before facing Western Illinois in its Sears Bracketbusters game on Saturday.  Both games are set for 7:05 p.m. tips.