Drake shoots lights-out in the second half as Omaha falls to the Bulldogs
Photo courtesy Omaha Athletics
By Matt Kirkle, Contributor
(OMAHA, Neb.)—Omaha fought to keep the contest close in the second half, but Drake used a blistering shooting performance with five players scoring in double-figures to pace themselves past Omaha on Thursday evening.
Adversity struck in the first few minutes of the game for Omaha, when leading scorer and reigning Summit League Player of the Week Marlon Ruffin injured his ankle which forced him to miss the remainder of the game. This hurt the Mavs, but didn’t kill them in the first half.
Drake led 10-7 before seeing their first offensive burst of the game, and went on a 13-3 run over the next five minutes—seeing five players score during the stretch.
D.J. Wilkins, who was just 1-of-10 from behind the arc heading into Thursday’s matchup against Omaha, energized the Bulldog attack in the first half. He was 3-of-3 from 3-point range in the opening frame and led Drake with 12 points at the half.
Omaha responded quickly, jump-starting the offensive production to draw within striking distance down the stretch of the first half. Ayo Akinwole hit two 3’s to get the engine running, and then Matt Pile hopped in the driver’s seat after not seeing much production in the first 12 minutes—having no points and just three rebounds.
Pile then rattled off six straight points to bring Drake’s lead back to five points at 30-25. Both teams would trade blows the rest of the half, but Drake would head into the locker room leading 40-32. Despite not scoring his first points until there was 7:25 left in the first half, Pile lead the Mavs with 10 at the break. Akinwole added 8.
Drake shot the ball well in the first half, shooting just shy of 50% from the floor and was 4-of-8 from long distance. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for Darian DeVries.
The Bulldogs were scorching hot out of the locker room, starting 8-of-9 from the floor (2-of-2 from 3) and doubled their halftime lead in the first 3:22 of the half. The entire starting-five for Drake set the tone all game long, combining to shoot 22-of-32 for the entire game (and also shot 5-of-7 from 3-point range). Shanquan Hemphill came to life for Drake as well, scoring 10 in the second half after having just one bucket at the break. Omaha couldn’t slow down the Bulldogs long enough to gain much traction. All-together, Drake opened the half on a 40-19 run.
Omaha chipped away at the deficit with some late buckets and free throws, but Drake’s strong second half push lead them the rest of the way to a 87-66 win over the Mavericks.
Drake improves to 3-0 and was led by Wilkins with 19 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc. Hemphill had 12, and Roman Penn added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Pile led the Mavs with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Akinwole finished with 14, followed by Wanjang Tut with 11. Omaha (1-4) returns to action against SIU-Edwardsville at 2 p.m. on Saturday.