DES MOINES, Iowa _ The Drake Bulldogs jumped on the Central Arkansas Bears early Wednesday night and hot shooting carried them to an 87-64 victory in front of a crowd of 3,751 at the Knapp Center.
In the first meeting between the teams, the Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field and connected on 10 three pointers in improving to 7-4 on the season. UCA dropped its third consecutive game and stands at 5-6.
“We had a better start at the beginning of the game but we couldn’t sustain it,’ said UCA head coach Corliss Williamson. “You have to give Drake credit on that, they’re a good team. They play hard and they play well and they play to their strengths.’
The Bears hung with the Bulldogs for the first six minutes and trailed 11-9 with 14:38 remaining. But Drake steadily pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the first half and took a 49-30 lead at halftime. Drake shot 56.3 percent from the field in the opening half, making 6 three-pointers. UCA countered with 29.6 percent shooting. UCA had 10 turnovers and Drake converted them into 21 points.
“We had 10 of our 14 turnovers in the first half,’ said Williamson, “You think if we don’t give those 10 turnovers away, or at least cut it in half, maybe we’re down just 9 or 10 at the half. But when you’re on the road, you can’t turn the basketball over, especially when you have a team that is capable of converting those turnovers into points.’
For the second consecutive game, senior guard Dewan Clayborn had the hot hand from the perimeter, going 3 for 3 from beyond the arc and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line for 14 first-half points. He finished the game with a career-high 23 points, making four threes to give him 10 in the past two games. Clayborn is 10 of 14 from three-point range on this two-game road trip.
“Dewan has really stepped up the past two games,’ said Williamson. “He’s shooting the ball well from the three-point line. And he stepped up tonight and made 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. If we can continue to get that type of production from Dewan, that’s going to be a positive for us in conference play. We just need to get some of our other guys back up to par.’
After the Bulldogs pushed their lead to as much as 25 points midway through the second half, the Bears fought back and cut the deficit to 12 points with 3;05 remaining when Oliver Wells made a pair of free throws. Clayborn made his fourth three-pointer and junior Robert Crawford came off the bench and nailed two in a row during a three-minute stretch. UCA was 7 of 17 (41.2 percent) from three-point range.
Clayborn was the only UCA player in double figures, while Drake had four. Rayvonte Rice had 29 points, hitting 12 of 18 from the field. Jordan Clarke scored 16, while Jeremy Jeffers and Ben Simons had three three-pointers each and had 11 points apiece.
UCA is off until a trip to Las Vegas to face the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on Wednesday, Dec. 28.
