SPORTS
THE TIMES-DELPHIC
SPORTS
MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2010
FOR BREAKING SPORTS NEWS WWW.TWITTER.COM/TDSPORTSNEWS
16
PAGE 6
STELLAR STATS Number of back-to-back games in which Josh Young has scored double figures.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Buzzer beater downs Drake DRAKE 53, EVANSVILLE 56
Purple Aces best Bulldogs Saturday by MATT MORAN
Copy Eidtor matthew.moran@drake.edu
photo by SARAH ANDREWS| Photo/Design Editor
SENIOR JOSH YOUNG charges past a Southern Illinois defender. Young took Saturday’s game against Evansville into his hands at the end, scoring the tying basket, but Evansville came back strong with a buzzer beater trey.
AROUND
the
VALLEY
The panthers earned the top seed for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament for the second straight year, finishing at the top of the conference standings. UNI and Wichita State both finished with perfect home seasons this year, though both teams fell on the road to Evansville, the lowest-ranked team in the conference.
Northern Iowa
Wichita State
If Josh Young’s career was a movie, he would want to rewrite the script of Saturday’s game for a better ending. For the second straight year, an Evansville 3-point buzzer beater was the difference against Drake at the Knapp Center. Denver Holmes hit a long shot from beyond the arc over freshman Seth VanDeest to give the Purple Aces a 56-53 victory to spoil the last home game for the four Bulldog seniors. “It’s certainly a tough loss,” Head Coach Mark Phelps said. “We played (the last play) perfectly. He had to make a tough shot over a guy that is 6-foot-10.” The game was destined for overtime when Young knocked down a runner off the glass to tie the game at 53 with 8.1 seconds left. “The coaching staff had a lot of confidence in me,” Young said. “They wanted the ball in my hands at the end of the game.” Drake was the latest victim of a pesky Evansville team that has suddenly hit its stride the past few weeks. After starting 0-14 in the Valley, the Purple Aces have reeled off wins against Wichita State and Northern Iowa, the top two teams in the conference, and now Drake. Both teams struggled to find any offense in the first half, as the Bulldogs shot only 29.2 percent from the field. Evansville led 22-19 at the break. Drake ended its shooting slump in the second half to take the lead. Young drove the lane and sent a nifty, no-look, behind-the-head pass to senior Adam Templeton who knocked down a trey from the corner to give the Bulldogs a 42-40 lead. Junior Ryan Wedel hit another 3-pointer on the next possession to give Drake some breathing room. “I thought when we went up five that we were going to close it out,” Phelps said. “They hit some
big shots.” After Evansville cut the lead to three, Templeton sent the crowd into a frenzy on a spin-move, one-handed dunk in traffic. The Purple Aces kept their composure and hit consecutive 3-point shots to take a 48-47 lead. The game was in Evansville’s hands until Young’s heroic shot tied it. “It was a big-time shot and we wanted the ball in his hands,” Phelps said. “Unfortunately, we left them eight seconds.” Last season, Evansville nailed a half-court shot at the buzzer to knock off Drake. Although it was not quite as far, Holmes’s three was a still a blow. “It seems like it happens to us every year now,” Young said, referring to those two shots and the famous Western Kentucky three that knocked the Bulldogs out of the NCAA Tournament in 2008. “Give him credit because he hit a tough shot,” he added. It was far from the finish Drake fans hoped to see end Young’s illustrious career. After the game, President David Maxwell and Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb were among speakers to commemorate Young’s career as a student and an athlete. Young’s family was also present and most of the Knapp Center crowd stayed to show their support for Drake’s all-time leading scorer. “The ceremony was nice but all I was thinking about was that shot,” an emotional Young said. Young finished with a team-high 16 points in his final Knapp Center game. Evansville’s Ned Cox led all scorers with 18. Seniors Bill Eaddy and Craig Stanley started alongside Young and Templeton in their final home games. Eaddy knocked down a three to start the game for his only field goal. Stanley had six points and three assists while Templeton added 10 rebounds. Drake sits at 13-18 and 7-11 heading into the Missouri Valley Tournament. The Bulldogs will face Southern Illinois in the first round on Thursday. n
DRAKE 59, MO STATE 79
Bears beat Bulldogs with quick offense at whistle by DOMINIC JOHNSON Staff Writer dominic.johnson@drake.edu
It looks to be coming down to the final games of the regular season to sort out the Missouri Valley standings, as the whole middle of the conference is a muddled mess. With Drake’s 75-59 loss to Missouri State on Wednesday, the Bulldogs seem to have missed a chance to cement themselves in a higher seed. Quick starts to each half put the Bulldogs down early and they struggled to fight out of the hole. After making just four of their first 12 field goal attempts in the first half, the Bulldogs trailed 22-9. However, behind six points from freshman Seth VanDeest in an 18-4 run, the Bulldogs fought back to trim the margin at half, 33-29,
and at one point had the lead 27-26. Missouri State made Drake pay at the start of the second half as well. The Bears started off the first three minutes with three 3-pointers and an 11-2 run, from which Drake couldn’t recover. While both teams shot well from the field overall, the Bears shot 50 percent from downtown to the Bulldogs’ 30 percent. The 12 turnovers the Bulldogs committed didn’t help either as Missouri State turned them into 13 points of their own. Senior Josh Young led the Bulldogs with 20 points; his sixth time dropping at least 20 points in the past 11 games. VanDeest added 10 points and senior Adam Templeton led the team with 10 rebounds. “We shot the ball well, but we didn’t play well defensively and committed too many turnovers,” Head Coach Mark Phelps said. n
WOMEN’S TENNIS BRIEF
by EDUARDO TAMEZ
Staff Writer eduardo.tamezzamarripa@drake.edu
photo by SARAH ANDREWS| Photo/Design Editor
SOPHOMORE JESSICA AGUILERA clinched the dual with a twoset win over UMKC’s Susan Lisenby in the No. 4 spot.
SEND YOUR STORY IDEAS TO TDSPORTS@DRAKE.EDU
SOPHOMORE FRANK WISELER looks poised as he waits to make a play on the Knapp Center court.
BULLDOG STATS: MVC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bulldogs rule Kangaroos in dual After beginning the season with a rough 0-6 stretch, the Bulldogs have bounced back as they have now reeled off three consecutive wins in a row. With losses to Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, UIC, ranked foe Nebraska and Air Force, optimism regarding the spring season was beginning to fade. However, having finally shaken off a tough early season schedule, the women’s tennis team is now absolutely rolling. This Saturday the Bulldogs defeated Nebraska-Omaha with an imposing 7-0 sweep. This was the Bulldogs third consecutive shutout, as they had previously defeated Rockhurst and Gustavus Adolphus with the same margin. With the victory over Nebraska-Omaha the Bulldogs got off to a great start for the weekend, as they will host UMKC later on in the second match of the Saturday double-header. On Sunday, they will face Chicago State, closing out what has been a successful home stand. After Sunday, the Bulldogs will not play at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center for another month. The Bulldogs will hit the road on March 15 to face UNC Wilmington, then will battle East Carolina on March 16th, and will close out their North Carolina swing with UNC Greensboro on March 17. The next scheduled match at home will be up until March 28 when they face Northern Iowa. n
photo by SARAH ANDREWS| Photo/Design Editor
>> TOP FINISHERS Junior Ari Curtis: Finished 2nd with 3739 points. > > > > >
Placed 3rd in 60 m hurdles with time of 9.02 seconds. Tied for 3rd in high jump with 1.61 meters Placed 8th in shot put with 9.42 meters Placed 1st in long jump with 5.67 meters Placed 1st in 800 with 2 minutes, 18.48 seconds
Senior Josh Bangert: Placed 2nd in long jump with 23 feet and 10 inches (7.26 meters)
OTHER NOTABLE FINISHES: Freshman Marissa Smith finished 7th in 60 meter hurdles Sophomore Jon DeGrave finished 2nd in men’s 400 m. dash Junior Kara McCartney finished 5th in women’s 800 m. run Sophomore Shaun James finished 2nd in 200 m. dash Junior Casey McDermott, senior Nicole Braunsdorf finished 5th and 6th respectively in the 3000 meter run Senior Jeff Grassmeyer finished 6th in 3000 meter run
FOR BREAKING DRAKE SPORTS NEWS, CHECK OUT WWW.TWITTER.COM/TDSPORTSNEWS