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Young helps Drake edge Creighton, win 16th straight

Jan 23, 2008 - 7:33 AM OMAHA, Nebraska (Ticker) -- Just because Drake is now ranked does not mean a win on the road in the Missouri Valley Conference is going to come any easier.

Josh Young broke a tie with a 3-pointer and Jonathan Cox scored all five of his points in overtime on free throws as the No. 23 Bulldogs pulled out a 68-60 victory at Creighton on Tuesday.

Ranked for the first time since 1975, Drake (17-1, 8-0 MWC) rallied from an early second-half deficit en route to halting its struggles here. Posting a road win against Creighton for the first time since 2002, the Bulldogs extended their winning streak to 16 games.

"This is one of the toughest places to play and it's a place we haven't had too much success," Drake guard Adam Emmenecker said. "Creighton came out and played well tonight, and it took a great effort from us to even get a chance to win in the end. We were lucky to come out with a win tonight."

Going into overtime knotted at 54-54 after the Bluejays' Chad Millard missed a 3-pointer right before the end of regulation, both teams failed to find the proper range for the opening two-plus minutes until Young stepped up from the arc with 2:42 remaining.

After Creighton came up short on the other end despite two attempts, Leonard Houston's layup gave Drake a 59-54 advantage with 2:04 to play.

Cavel Witter responded with two free throws for the Bluejays and, after both teams came up empty on a possession, Cox converted the first two of his attempts at the stripe to make it 61-56 with 67 seconds left.

Although freshman Kaleb Korver knocked down a 3-pointer to cut Creighton's deficit to two points, Cox combined with Klayton Korver and Jacob Baryenbruch to sink seven of Drake's final eight free throws to seal the win.

"I think the next win is always the biggest win," Klayton Korver said. "It's a big win when you come here, it's a tough place to play."

"We are disappointed. We didn't throw the ball inside and didn't do a good job of looking in there," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "We had our opportunity, but just weren't tough enough to finish it. That's a tough loss."

The younger brother of the Utah Jazz's Kyle Korver and older sibling of Kaleb, Klayton Korver scored 14 points for the Bulldogs, who offset shooting 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the field by converting 17-of-18 free throws and outscoring the Bluejays in the paint, 24-12.

"It is rough playing your brother," Kaleb Korver said. "The majority of the time, I want him to do well, but tonight is a little different. I want my brother to do well, but at the same time I wanted to win. It was a night of mixed emotions."

Emmenecker had an all-around great game, scoring 12 points, handing out seven assists and grabbing six rebounds. He also grabbed four of Drake's eight steals.

Dane Watts had 13 points and eight rebounds for Creighton (14-4, 5-3), which also struggled from the field at 34.5 percent (20-of-58).

The team's leading scorer at 12.7 points, Watts surpassed 1,000 career points midway through the first half.

The Bluejays had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Winning the previous five meetings here, Creighton led the entire first half, taking a 22-15 advantage on a 3-pointer by Witter with just under five minutes remaining before settling for a six-point lead at intermission.

Although P'Allen Stinnett converted a layup in the opening moments of the second half to make it 32-24, the Bulldogs rallied with a 12-0 run. Brent Heemskerk's layup capped the spurt, giving Drake a 36-32 edge with 13:45 to play.

"Our guys aren't lacking for confidence, for sure," Bulldogs coach Keno Davis said. "I think the amount of shots they made on us in the first half, we just felt like we were going to be able to make some changes defensively so they wouldn't get as many open looks. We hoped the pressure defense would tire them out, even though they play a deep bench. Our guys played extremely hard."

The contest would then go on to be tied five times until Kaleb Korver split two free throws for Creighton with 1:15 remaining. Millard would add another point to that lead 38 seconds later until Houston's late jumper.