The Standard

Issue date: 1/15/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Matt Moore

The hard part seemed to be over. After spending the past 10 minutes chipping away at a 10-point deficit, the Missouri State men's basketball team was tied with Drake at 54 apiece with less than four minutes remaining.

But as Drake kicked it into another gear, the Bears had no response.

The Bulldogs scored the game's final 11 points and won 65-54 over Missouri State Saturday night in Des Moines, Iowa.

"They just executed and played better than we did when it mattered the most," Bears head coach Barry Hinson said in his postgame radio show.

Two Dale Lamberth free throws capped a 15-5 Missouri State run and tied the game at 51 with 4:58 left.

Lamberth scored 11 of the 15 points during the stretch. The teams traded 3-pointers over the next minute before the decisive Drake run.

Adam Emmenecker and Leonard Houston scored nine of the 11 points during the run as Drake (14-1, 5-0) won its school record 13th straight game.

The Bears (9-8, 2-3) have lost five of their last seven games and are 1-7 away from Hammons Student Center.

Missouri State was 22-of-51 from the field in the game, including 3-of-20 from 3-point range.

Hinson said shooting wasn't the reason the Bears lost.

"It didn't have anything to do with our shooting," Hinson said. "It was about the rebounding margin and penetration. They got a lot of offensive rebounds in the second half and we couldn't stop their penetration."

Drake out-rebounded the Bears 31-29, but had a plus-10 edge in a second half that also saw the Bulldogs grab 10 of their 13 offensive rebounds on the night.

Houston's 3-pointer gave Drake a 46-36 lead six minutes into the second half. The Bulldogs held a 9-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Klayton Korver led Drake with 19 points and Houston had 16. Lamberth led the Bears with 19 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

The Bulldogs shot only 20-of-49 from the field, but half of their made shots were 3-pointers. Drake forced 16 Missouri State turnovers.

"We did a great job in the first half and knew we would have to come out with the same intensity in the second half, but we didn't," Hinson said. "We didn't have the same urgency or focus that we had in the first half."

Drake jumped out to an early 10-4 lead before the Bears stormed back to take a 19-17 advantage. A Dex Manswell layup with 5:43 remaining in the first half gave Missouri State its biggest lead of the game at 28-21.

Missouri State returns home to host Indiana State at 7 p.m.

The Sycamores (9-6, 4-1) are coming off a 64-62 double overtime win over Southern Illinois Saturday.

"If we want to get back in the conference race, we have to come out and protect our home court," Hinson said. "We can't worry about anything else."

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