DES MOINES, IOWA – A pair of 23-point scorers and a big run to open the second half allowed the Drake University men’s basketball team to cruise past visiting UIC, 83-62, Saturday afternoon at the Knapp Center.
Kale Abrahamson (West Des Moines, Iowa) and Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) each had 23 points for Drake (4-3) on combined 9-of-15 three-point shooting . The Bulldogs shot 52.5 percent from the field in the win and 52.6 from three-point range while holding UIC (1-3) to 39.7 percent shooting. UIC was led by Dikembe Dixson’s 13 points and six rebounds.
“Today I’m most happy and proud of the way this ended a segment of our season,” said Drake head coach Ray Giacoletti. “We’ve played five games in a seven-day period with a lot of travel. To be able come out like this when we were fatigued, they were able to push through those things for us to find a way to get a win.”
Graham Woodward (Edina, Minn.) helped engineer Drake’s offense with eight of the Bulldogs’ 18 assists.
“I see 18 assists and if you’re sharing the basketball, you’re getting good looks,” Giacoletti said. “We have good shooters and they were able to step up and knock down shots.”
C.J. Rivers (Cahokia, Ill.) added four assists and a career-high 13 rebounds from his guard position.
“He’s a multidimensional play that does whatever it takes to win,” Giacoletti said of Rivers.
Drake built up a six-point, 36-30, lead at halftime thanks to 10 points from Timmer. The Bulldogs quickly expanded that lead in the second half by opening the period on a 15-3 run to take a 51-33 lead six minutes into the half. Abrahamson and Timmer combined to score 11 of those points.
The Bulldogs kept that lead at 10 or more points for all but 26 seconds of the remainder of the second half. An 8-0 run that started with three minutes left gave the Bulldogs a 24-point lead heading into the final minute of the game.
Following the last week’s rigorous schedule that the Bulldogs navigated with a 3-2 record, the team will have a week off from competition before traveling to Bowling Green for a Dec. 5 contest against the Falcons.
“We need it badly. We haven’t had a day off in a while,” Giacoletti said. “Mentally and physically we’ll have a day and half off and be ready to come back Monday and get ready for Bowling Green.”
