Roman Gentry

Des Moines, Iowa – Senior forward Tyler Cain posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the South Dakota men’s basketball squad lost a hard-fought 96-81 contest to Drake on Friday night at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The loss dropped USD to 5-4 on the season, while Drake improved to 4-5.

Cain’s (Rochester, Minn.) 24th career double-double led four Coyotes in double figures, as freshman guard Jake Thomas (Racine, Wisc.) also had 16 points, senior guard Roman Gentry (Sioux City, Iowa) added 14 and junior guard Mitchell Bouie (Chicago, Ill.) had 11. The Coyotes hit 30-of-71 (42 percent) of their field goals, including 11-of-34 (32 percent) from behind the arc. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent (33-of-66) for the game and knocked down 14-of-26 (54 percent) three pointers.

The Coyotes opened by missing their first three shots and Drake took an early 7-2 advantage, but USD battled back behind threes from Thomas, Smith and Gentry and took a 20-14 lead at the 11:45 mark behind a 10-4 run. Boots hit a fast-break layup after a steal by Cutler, while Bouie converted an old-fashion three-point play with a bucket and free throw.

The Bulldogs found their range behind the arc to retake the lead and hold the advantage until halftime. DU nailed three consecutive treys to go up 31-27 with 7:05 left, but two buckets by Cain and two threes from Thomas helped tie the game at 39 apiece at the 2:45 mark.

Drake once again hit three consecutive treys and used a tip-in at the buzzer for an 11-0 run to take a 50-39 lead at the break. The Bulldogs hit 11-of-19 (58 percent) three-pointers in the first frame, including 4-of-4 from Josh Young for part of his 16 points. Thomas had 13 points in the first and Cain had eight, as USD hit 6-of-15 (40 percent) treys and 16-of-33 (49 percent) field goals.

USD opened the second half with an 11-4 run to close the gap to 54-50 in the first three minutes. Gentry hit a three and Krogman followed with two more, before Drake pushed the lead back to 10 at 14:58 to go. A nice spinning layup by Bouie in the lane sparked the Coyotes on an 8-2 spurt. Gentry hit a three, bucket notched another layup and Gentry converted a basket and the free throw to scratch the lead down to 62-60 at the 12:20 mark.

Drake built a five-point lead at the halfway mark, before another Thomas three and two free throws from Bouie made it 68-66. The Bulldogs crafted a 10-2 run to pad their lead to 78-68 with 6:38 to go, but, as had been the case all night, the Coyotes clawed back in to the game to cut the lead to 78-75. Drake used the trey and offensive rebounds to outscore USD 18-6 in the final four minutes for the 96-81 win.

USD continues play at the Drake Invitational against Binghamton at 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Knapp Center. Admission is free.