The Missouri St. Bears overcame a 12-point deficit in the first half to top Drake 85-79 in Des Moines, Iowa on Monday night. The Bulldogs led 27-15 with eight minutes remaining in the first half before the Bears began to rally.
Missouri St. whittled the lead down to three points and trailed 28-25 at the half. They opened up the second half by scoring the first seven points and never looked back. Drake took just one more lead, when they went up 64-63 later in the second half.
The Bears made 44 percent of their three pointers on Monday, hitting 11-of-25. They converted 6-of-11 in the second half. MSU guard Blake Ahearn scored 23 points, hitting 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Deke Thompson was the Bears’ second-leading scorer with 21, while Nathan Bilyeu, Sky Frazier and Tyler Chaney scored 10 apiece. Ahearn and Bilyeu dished out five assists apiece.
With the win, MSU improved to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake is 8-6 and 1-2.