11 | sports
Nov. 09, 2016
SPORTS MEN’S BASKETBALL
SOPHOMORE FORWARD (top) Billy Wampler plays defense last Saturday. Wampler led the team in scoring with 22 points in the game. (Right) Junior Guard De’Antae McMurray pulls up for a shot from 3-point land. McMurray went 2-6 for 3-pointers in last Saturday’s game against Concordia. PHOTO BY KATIE KURKA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Drake wins exhibition over Concordia Matthew Gogerty Sports Editor matthew.gogerty@drake.edu @mattgogo Drake Men’s Basketball got a taste of what was in store for it’s season in an exhibition match this past weekend against Concordia University. The Bulldogs came away with a win over the Golden Bears, 81-75. The Bulldogs were unrelenting in a game that featured six lead changes and seven ties. Junior guard Reed Timmer got out to a good start, for his first game with the Bulldogs this season he added 20 points to the game. Timmer led Drake in scoring last year and was third in the Missouri Valley Conference, averaging 16.8 points per game. The Bulldogs had a turbulent season last year, finishing 7-24 overall with one losing streaks that lasted nine games. But, with younger players looking to fill bigger roles and the departure of guard Karl Madison, Drake’s dynamic has been tampered with. With the addition of transfer students, junior guard De’ Antae
McMurray and junior forward T.J. Thomas, the Bulldogs seem to have filled the void left by Madison. McMurray got on the board with nine points of his own, while Thomas added eight. Sophomore forward Billy Wampler added 22 points against concordia. After averaging 3.8 points per game last season it would seem that Wampler may be called upon to do more damage from the field this upcoming season. “Defensively, we need to be better, but take nothing away from Concordia-St. Paul,” said Drake head coach Ray Giacoletti at the press conference. “We had to make some adjustments and T.J. Thomas did a good job switching those ball screens for us.” The first half was a one sided show for the Bulldogs who led by as much as 12. At the end of the firsthalf the Bulldogs led by five. Concordia tied it up in the first minute of the game, but a quick three point shot by Wampler put the Bulldogs back in the lead. The Golden Bears led in the second half by as much as four with eight minutes left in the game, but it would be short lived.
A pair of free throws by sophomore forward Nick McGlynn and a layup by Timmer tied it back up at 65-65 with seven minutes left of play. Thereafter, the Golden Bears were unable to tie it up again. The Bulldogs would go on to lead by as much as seven and eventually finished the game with a six point lead. The Bulldogs shot 81.8 percent from the free-throw line on 33 attempts and shot 25 percent from three-point range. “We got a lot out of this and I’m glad it went down the way it did,” Giacoletti added at the press conference. “We needed to be able to function and play in a close basketball game. We made four out of five stops to end the game and stepped up and made our free throws. Those are the things that will help us down the road.” Regular season play opens up on Nov. 11 for the Bulldogs against South Dakota State at the Knapp Center.
MEN’S SOCCER
Bulldogs still alive
Faces Evansville next Adam Rogan Managing Editor adam.rogan@drake.edu @adam_rogan
Freshman Antonio Sanchez had no Bradley defenders in front of him in the final minute of yesterday’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament play-in game after stealing the pass from a defender. With only the goalie to beat, Sanchez was tripped up by the keeper. The goalkeeper, senior Logan Ketterer, was given a red card and replaced for a penalty kick. Drake senior Mueng Sunday coolly put the PK past the freshman substitute to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead with 25 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs won the match and advanced into the quarterfinal round, a match scheduled for 3 p.m. the next day, Nov. 9, against the Evansville Purple Aces. Drake took the lead 26 minutes into the match. Redshirt-senior Ben LeMay drew a foul just above the penalty arc. Four Bulldogs lined up for the free kick from 28 yards out. After senior James Wypych faked a shot, senior defender James Pendrigh fired a bullet around the wall that curled mere inches inside of the right post, out of Ketterer’s reach. It was Pendrigh’s first goal in Drake blue and the first in his career, after transferring from the University of Wisconsin—Green Bay before this season. With the lead in hand, the Bulldogs’ scheme shifted. Their defense became more organized, essentially playing with six defenders as opposed to the traditional four. This helped prevent shots on goal on free and bouncing balls played into the defensive box. Redshirt-senior Darrin MacLeod only needed to make two saves in the shutout, both of them in the first half. Drake did get lucky at a couple points when Braves squandered chances on goal. When the
match was still tied 0-0, Bradley Sophomore Alex mishandled a cross that MacLeod had tipped and sent his short-range shot out of bounds. Bradley freshman Suad Suljic had a chance in the 60th minute, but the cross was played behind him and Suljic sent the attempted header over the crossbar. That was one of only two shots for Bradley in the second half, as the Bulldogs dominated possession with an attack led by sophomore Nic Jaimes who finished the match with two shots. All three of Drake’s 2016 conference wins have come against the Bradley. The Bulldogs will look to turn that around against Evansville and advance to the semifinal match two days later. Last season, the Bulldogs won the MVC Tournament and advanced to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. This year, however, they face more of an uphill battle. The championship match would be their fourth game in five days. They also entered the tournament ranked sixth in the MVC. Last year, they came in seeded third. The one time Drake faced Evansville this season was on Oct. 22 in Des Moines. The Bulldogs lost that match a 4-3 scoring frenzy. The MVC Tournament is being broadcast on ESPN3.com. Links to watch the live stream of Drake’s matches can be found on godrakebulldogs.com.
Catch Men’s Soccer’s MVC Tournament Quarterfinal Match TODAY on ESPN3 vs. Evansville 3 p.m. Springfield, Missouri