By Jack McGonigal
DES MOINES, Iowa- The Omaha Men’s Basketball team fell to the Drake Bulldogs in an I-80 clash Wednesday Night 78-65.
A career-night for JJ White with 18 points who shot 7-12 from the field and 2-4 from three led the way for the Mavs in the scoring column followed by three other Mavs in double figures. It was a competitive and close fight from start to finish as there were seven lead changes and tied at six different points in the game.
Marquel Sutton had Omaha’s six of the team’s first ten points early on as he hit three of his first four shots. The Bulldogs bounced off of their offensive rebounds and second chance points, as Drake outrebounded Omaha 6-1 offensively and outscored Omaha 9-2 on second chance points.
Omaha found themselves down by three after the first 20 minutes, ending the first half on a 6-2 run, highlighted by a Dylan Brougham assist by JJ White.
As the second half began, the Drake Bulldogs put on the full-court press which caused backcourt issues for the Omaha offense. All of a sudden, Drake’s lead went from three to nine in just over two minutes.
Omaha battled back and took their first lead of the second half at 45-44, with seven consecutive points off the hand of JJ White including the go-ahead three. Drake laid the hammer down after and never looked back. Last year’s MVC Freshman of the Year, Tucker Devries was cold in the first half with four but turned up the notch with nine in the second half.
In the end, the energy and atmosphere was too much for Omaha against the preseason favorites of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Omaha has one game left on this lengthy seven game roadstand. The Mavs return home Tuesday afternoon when they take on Midland.
Leading Scorers:
-#1 JJ White: (18 PTS) (Career-high)
-#10 Marquel Sutton (16 PTS) (Matched career-high)
-#0 Luke Jungers (10 PTS)
-#23 Frankie Fidler (10 PTS)
