DES MOINES, Iowa ? Drake guard Josh Young scored a game-high 18 points and the Bulldogs (15-10, 6-7 MVC) rode an 18-5 run to close the first half to a 68-54 Missouri Valley Conference victory against visiting Bradley (13-11, 7-6 MVC) Saturday night at the Drake Knapp Center. The result extended Bradley's losing streak to a season-long three games.
Bradley junior guard Dodie Dunson was the only Brave to score in double-figures as Sam Singh followed with nine points off the bench, while Theron Wilson, Sam Maniscalco and Eddren McCain each totaled eight points. Drake's Josh Parker was the game's only other double-digit scorer with 16 points. Valley rebounding leader Jonathan Cox pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Dunson scored inside and after a Drake turnover, Singh split two free throws to give the Braves a 15-12 lead with 9:51 left in the first half. Adam Templeton pulled Drake even by draining a 3-pointer and the Braves committed turnovers on their next two possessions. The second came via a charge call on Wilson, which sent Bradley's leading scorer to the bench with two fouls with 8:39 left in the half. The Bulldogs outscored Bradley 15-5 the rest of the half to grab a 30-20 lead at the break. A deep Young 3-pointer with 6:37 left in the half gave Drake a lasting lead, 20-17.
After committing 11, 5 and 10 turnovers in its previous three games, Bradley turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, contributing Drake's 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers during the first 20 minutes.
Bradley trimmed its deficit to eight points on five different occasions in the second half, but could never cut deeper into Drake's lead. After Maniscalco made three free throws to get the Braves to within 41-33 with 12:19 left, Drake scored the next five points and led by double-digits the rest of the night. A Wilson jumper got Bradley to within 46-35 with 10:04 remaining, but Drake scored the next five points at the free throw line and the Braves got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
While Bradley managed to shoot just 41.9 percent (18-43) from the field, Drake hit at a 47.6 percent (20-42) clip. The Bulldogs (8-24) made three more 3-pointers than Bradley (5-17), outscored the Braves by seven (20-13) from the free throw line and outrebounded their visitors, 29-25.
Having already played away from home a league-high 13 times this season, Bradley will return to the road Wednesday for a 7:35 p.m. clash against Valley preseason favorite Creighton at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Wednesday's game once again will be televised on the MVC-TV Network: Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City, Metro Sports in Kansas City and Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
