Drake athletics always shows up ready to compete, and in 2024, the men’s basketball team attempted to make history as it kicked off a new season with a brand new team. This season could mark a Missouri Valley Conference championship and March Madness three-peat that would stamp yet another season into the team’s history book.
Drake put this 2024-25 team into action with its first home game of the season against the NAIA York University Panthers on Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Knapp Center, where the Des Moines home team was welcomed with a packed stadium.
The Bulldogs have previously gone 27-8 in 2023-23 and 28-7 for their 2023-24 season. Both seasons, the team stole the MVC conference and made it to March Madness, where the Bulldogs fell both times in the first round. But this season is different.
The team is loaded with new talent. Drake saw redshirt-senior Nate Ferguson and redshirt-sophomore Andrew Alia as its lone returners, leaving the team with a roster to fill along with a new head coach spot sitting wide open.
The Bulldogs did not struggle to fill these gaps, though. Ben McCollum filled the void for the Bulldogs and brought most of his Northwest Missouri State University lineup with him, including powerhouses junior Tavion Banks and graduate Isaiah Jackson. This team will be different than before, as its players moved from a DII to DI program when they transferred to Drake and joined the conference, which meant a literal whole new ball game for the young team.
In the first game of the season, the Bulldogs showed little fear. The game started very quickly with an early Bulldog lead. Drake started off the first half of the game with a smooth 37-17 lead with more than five minutes still left. The first half ended with a very clean 50-23 halftime score, with the Bulldogs soaring above York by almost 30 points. The team’s top scorers of the half were graduate Daniel Abreu with 19 points, who was 50% for three-point shots and 6-11 in field goals, and junior Bennett Stirtz with 11 points, shooting 60% for three-point shots and 3-5 in field goals.
With such an advantage over York, the difference in game speed was noticed as Drake seemed to be running laps around its opponent — quite literally.
“I think [our offense] has gotten a little cleaner with DI,” McCollum said. “They play with a few less players, and they have a better scout so that the game is a little bit cleaner from an offensive perspective. A lot of time we do play fast, but it is more about how the ball moves and how fast the action comes at you.”
During the second half, the game heated up. The Bulldogs broke away even further with a 80-34 lead with still more than nine minutes left in the game. This half was heavily dominated by Abreu, adding up 30 points in his first game as a Bulldog and, in turn, cementing his place as a top player to look out for going forward in the season.
“I would say a strength was being open,” Abreu said. “The guys found me, and I needed to be found. It wasn’t any of me looking for shots; the shots were just coming to me.”
Stirtz followed him up with 18 points and four fouls while returner Ferguson racked up 11 points, not missing a single basket all night. The Bulldogs were 31 for 59 in field goals and 13 for 30 in three-point shots and ended the game with a well fought 93-41 score.
This game showcased an amazing season opener and showed how the team adapted quickly to the heightened pressure of playing in the MVC for the first time as Bulldogs and an atmosphere switch that could put the Bulldogs as a favorite early into the season.
“[The game] was great,” Abreu said. “The whole time I was goofing off and having fun. I was playing with a lot of familiar guys that I have known for a while, and it was a great time.”
The team will host Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. for the Veterans game, when the Bulldogs will seek their second win of the season.
