University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Drake
Drake Edges UNI, 47-46
2/18/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2009
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Cedar Falls, Iowa - Josh Young scored a game-high 16 points, 11 of them coming in the second half, to lead the Drake men's basketball team to a 47-46 win over the University of Northern Iowa tonight at the McLeod Center.
UNI was led by junior center Jordan Eglseder, who had his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Eglseder also blocked three shots and had a steal. Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Kerwin Dunham and Lucas O'Rear each added seven points for UNI, with O'Rear pulling in eight caroms.
Trailing 45-40 with less than four minutes remaining in the game, UNI fought back and gave itself a chance to win. Freshman guard Johnny Moran made an eight-foot baseline jumper, sandwiched in between free throws from O'Rear and Ahelegbe, to get the Panthers within 45-44 with 2:20 left.
Young then hit a pull-up 10 footer in the lane to push Drake's lead back to 47-44. After each team failed to score, UNI's Ali Farokhmanesh fired a three-pointer for the tie with 24 seconds left that missed, but Moran tipped the ball home to get the Panthers within 47046. UNI then forced a Drake turnover, and worked for the final shot. The Panthers got the ball inside to Eglseder with five seconds left, and he was fouled while shooting. Eglseder was unable to connect on either free throw, however, and the rebound was tipped out to halfcourt and the clock expired, giving Drake the 47-46 win.
UNI shot out to a 7-2 lead to start the game, as Eglseder had four points and O'Rear a conventional three-point play. After Drake got within 10-7, Farokhmanesh hit back-to-back treys to push the Panthers to a 16-7 advantage. Drake got as close as 18-14, but UNI got a pair of free throws and a three-pointer from the right corner from Dunham to build its lead back to 23-14. Drake scored the last three points of the half to get within 23-17 at the break.
Young hit a trey to start the second half, but UNI got three points from Eglseder, and five points from Ahelegbe, as the Panthers built their lead to 31-23 with 14:34 left in the game. UNI led by seven, 35-28, but the Panthers then went without a field goal for nearly seven minutes. Drake took their first lead of the game, 39-38, after Young hit two free throws with 6:51 left. By the time Drake's 15-3 run was over, the Bulldogs had moved in front, 43-38, with a little more than four minutes left.
UNI shot 35 percent from the field, 4-for-19 from three-point range. The Panthers, who entered the game averaging just 11.4 turnovers per game, had a season-high 21 turnovers in the contest. Drake shot 39 percent from the floor and was 6-for-17 from behind the arc. The Panthers controlled the glass, grabbing 36 total rebounds to just 23 by Drake. Thirteen of UNI's boards were on the offensive end, marking the fourth straight game the Panthers have grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds.
Drake improved to 16-12 overall, 7-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while UNI fell to 18-9 overall, 12-4 in the Valley. The Panthers travel to face Siena on Saturday as part of ESPNU BracketBusters, with tipoff time set for 2:05 pm (central). The game will be televised live on ESPN2.
