Dec. 2, 2007
Box Score
DES MOINES, IOWA -- Leonard Houston scored 23 points and Klayton Korver added 22 - including a big 3-pointer with 12 seconds left - to lead Drake to a 77-73 win over Duquesne in the championship game of the Iowa Realty Invitational at Des Moines, Iowa.
Shawn James had 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks and Kieron Achara had 14 points for the Dukes, who dropped to 6-1 after opening at 6-0 for the first time in 28 years. Drake moved to 5-1 with the win.
Duquesne rallied from an 11-point deficit to within two on a Gary Tucker layup with 42 seconds left.
On Drake's next possession, the Bulldogs ran the shot clock down before Houston found Korver in the deep right corner for a 3-pointer. Korver, who went 5-of-15 from the 3-point arc, was 0-of-8 from the arc in the second half before hitting the shot with 12 seconds left.
"This was a great test against a good team," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "Korver hitting that shot was huge. That was the one shot he had in the second half that was open and he made it. You've got to give him credit. We just couldn't get over the hump. We did a good job of playing from behind and put ourselves in position to win. You've got to make plays to win games."
Duquesne trailed by its largest deficit of the season when Drake took a 23-11 lead just under seven minutes into the game on a Korver 3-pointer. Drake shot 51.4 percent, including 8-of-14 from the 3-point arc, in taking a 51-43 lead at the half.
DU put the clamps on in the second half, holding Drake to just seven field goals on 18.9 percent shooting.
Duquesne was down seven when Everhart was hit with a technical following a foul call on Aaron Jackson. Drake hit three of four free throws following the call to take a 10-point lead with 7:57 left. DU rallied after the technical to pull within four when Kojo Mensah scored six points in just under a minute to make it 65-61 with 5:48 to go. Twenty seconds later, Mensah was whistled for his fifth foul and was forced to the sideline with 12 points.
Achara then made a steal and hit a layup to pull the Dukes within two. Drake rallied to go up six on a Korver bucket before James and Tucker scored to cut it to two with 42 seconds remaining, setting up Korver's lone 3-pointer of the second half.
Duquesne shot 47.3 percent, but turned it over a season-high 24 times. The Dukes outscored Drake 32-24 in the paint, but were outscored 21-12 in points off turnovers. Drake's 13 turnovers were a Duquesne opponent season low.
"You can't win when you turn it over 24 times," said Everhart. "Our biggest achilles heel was the turnovers. That just can't happen."
Drake's Houston was named the tournament's outstanding player. He was joined by Korver, James and Mensah of Duquesne and Tremaine Townsend of Cal State Northridge.
Duquesne returns to action when it hosts No. 14 (AP) Pitt (7-0) at the Palumbo Center on Wed., Dec. 5. It is the first time the Dukes will enter the annual game with a winning record since Dec. 18 1993.
NOTES
• No team has shot better than 40 percent against the Dukes this season. Drake looked to be the first team to break that streak after a 51.4 percent first half, but Duquesne rallied to hold the Bulldogs to 7-of-37 shooting (18.9%) in the game's last 20 minutes.
• DU's six-game win streak was its longest since the 1980-81 season, when Mike Rice's Dukes won seven late-January/early-February games on the way to a 20-10 finish and NIT appearance.
• The Dukes shot a season-low 16 free throws.
