Panthers Edged By No. 22 Bulldogs, 58-54

Saturday, January 26

Des Moines, Iowa

5:05 PM

University of Northern Iowa

Drake University

Panthers Edged By No. 22 Bulldogs, 58-54

1/26/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: UNI Athletics Communications

Jan. 26, 2008

Final Stats

DES MOINES, Iowa - Drake's Klayton Korver scored 23 points, including making seven three-pointers, to lead 22^nd-ranked Drake to a hard-fought 58-54 win over the University of Northern Iowa Saturday night at a sold-out Knapp Center.

UNI was led in scoring by senior guard Jared Josten, who had 12 points. Jordan Eglseder came off the bench to score nine points and grab eight rebounds, while Eric Coleman also chipped in with nine points.

The Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start the game, as Adam Koch scored four early points and Coleman converted a conventional three-point play. Korver hit a three to pull Drake even at seven, but a Kerwin Dunham three-pointer and a Koch layup pushed UNI back in front, 12-7. Josh Young and Korver hit back-to-back threes to give Drake the lead back, 13-12, but Dunham answered with a baseline jumper to put UNI in front, 14-13, with 10:25 left in the first half.

Drake then went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes, as Young, Korver and Jacob Baryenbruch each connected from behind the arc, while UNI missed four straight shots during that stretch. UNI pulled within 26-20 after a Brian Haak jumper from the right wing, but Drake scored four straight to go back up by 10, 30-20. The Bulldogs held a 32-24 lead at intermission.

The teams traded three-pointers in the opening minutes of the second half, with Korver hitting a pair for Drake, and Josten and Adam Viet each draining one for UNI. The Panthers took their first lead of the second half, 39-38, after a Josten jumper with 13:03 left. Drake tied the score at both 39-all and 42-all, but each time, UNI answered with a three-pointer to move back in front. The Panthers led by as many as four points, including as late as 53-49 with 5:33 left, after Haak drained a three from the left corner.

With Eglseder in his face, Korver hit his final three-pointer of the day with 4:26 left to pull Drake within 53-52, and Leonard Houston gave Drake the lead, 55-53, with a trey from the right wing with 2:30 on the clock. Coleman hit one of two free throws on the next possession to pull the Panthers within a point, and UNI then forced a Drake miss with two minutes left. On the ensuing possession, Viet missed a three from the corner, but Koch grabbed the offensive rebound and found Josten, who was able to drive into the lane. But his jumper with just over a minute left missed, and Drake corralled the rebound.

Adam Emmenecker scored to put Drake in front, 57-54, with 45 seconds remaining. After a UNI timeout, the Panthers found Josten on the left side for a three-pointer that would have tied the game, but it missed and Drake hit one free throw with 13 seconds left to seal the victory.

Drake shot 41 percent for the game, and was 13-for-27 from three-point range, with Korver connecting on 7-of-8 from downtown. UNI connected on 43 percent of its shots and was 7-for-23 from behind the arc, including making six threes in the second half.

Drake won its 17^th consecutive game and improved to 18-1 on the season, 9-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while UNI fell to 12-8 overall, 4-5 in conference play. The Panthers are next in action on Wednesday night (Jan. 30), when they play host to Illinois State. Tipoff from the McLeod Center is 7:05 pm.