No. 25 Creighton holds off determined Drake

[March 03, 2012]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Doug McDermott scored 26 points and Antoine Young added 16 points to lift No. 25 Creighton to a 68-61 victory Friday night over Drake in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Creighton (26-5) advances to play the winner of the Evansville-Missouri State game on Saturday.

Rayvonte Rice led Drake (17-15) with 15 points. Kurt Alexander added 14 and Jordan Clarke and Ben Simons each added 11 points.

Creighton won all three matchups this season with the Bulldogs, but they did not go quietly in this one.

Drake was down by 13 points with 4:33 left, but cut the gap 63-60 on a short jump shot by Rice with 1:24 remaining. That would be as close as the Bulldogs would come.

Creighton went 5 for 6 from the free throw line to secure the victory.

Alexander connected on a jumper with 17:43 to play to give Drake its last lead at 38-37.

Creighton then took command. The Bluejays went on a 10-2 run to lead 47-40 with 12:09 left. Creighton extended its lead to 52-42 on a 3-point field goal from deep in the left corner along the baseline by Josh Jones at 9:01.

The Bluejays biggest lead was 13 points at 61-48 when Jahenns Manigat made a long jumper just before the shot clock expired.

In the first half, there were seven ties and three lead changes.

Drake jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the 2:59. Creighton scored its first basket at the 16:50 mark.

A layup by Young put Creighton ahead 35-34 at halftime.

[Associated Press]

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