DES MOINES, IOWA - Sophomore forward Klayton Korver enjoyed his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds as Drake held off Bradley, 79-73, Saturday night to snap a two-game Missouri Valley Conference losing streak.
Freshmen guards Tonny Bennett and Jeremy Crouch scored career highs of 25 and 17 points, respectively, for Bradley which had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Drake rallied from a nine-point deficit early in the second half and then secured the victory by making 13 of 14 free throws in the last 1:10 of the game.
The undersized Bulldogs also managed to win the battle of the boards against the league's top rebounding unit, by outrebounding Bradley, 45-33.
Senior forward Pete Eggers scored a team-high 17 points to pace a balanced Drake attack that had five players score in double figures.
After Bradley erected a 52-46 lead with 12:31 remaining, following a jumper by reserve Lawrence Wright, Drake went on an 18-5 scoring outburst climaxed by a three-point basket by Korver at the top of the key that gave the Bulldogs a 64-57 lead with 1:52 remaining.
Then Crouch hit three straight three-point baskets in a 47-second span to keep the Braves within striking distance. His last trey pulled Bradley within 70-66 with 51 seconds left, but Brooks hit four free throws and Eggers made three charity tosses to secure the victory.
A layup by reserve forward Josh Powell gave Drake a 59-57 lead it would never relinquish with 5:28 left.
Senior guard Lonnie Randolph snapped out of a shooting slump by adding 12 points to mark his first double-figure scoring game for Drake in the last six contests.'
Junior guards Sean Tracy and Chaun Brooks scored 10 points apiece. Brooks tallied six of his points in the final 1:27, including four free throws. Brooks also collected six assists and three steals.
Brooks dished out five assists in the opening 4 minutes 23 seconds of the game as Drake hit eight straight baskets to turn a 5-0 deficit into a 20-12 cushion. Then after Brooks missed a layup to end the hot shooting, reserve center Dave Bancroft followed with a rebound dunk to give the Bulldogs a 20-10 lead.
Drake, 5-7 overall including a 2-3 MVC mark, will close out a three-game, five-day homestand Monday entertaining Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Bradley, which fell to 9-3 including a 2-2 MVC mark, will play at league leader Wichita State Wednesday.
