Hot-shooting Drake beats Vanderbilt to win Charleston Classic

Field Level Media|published: Sun 24th November, 22:57 2024

Drake head coach Ben McCollum directs his players on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at the Knapp Center.

Bennett Stirtz posted 16 points and a career-high 11 assists to lead Drake to an 81-70 win over Vanderbilt in the championship game of the Charleston Classic on Sunday night in South Carolina.

Cam Manyawu scored 16 of his season-high 18 points in the first half, and he added 11 rebounds for Drake (6-0). The Bulldogs also got 17 points from Mitch Mascari, who shot 3-of-5 on 3-pointers, and 15 points from Daniel Abreu as they outshot the Commodores 53.7 percent to 44.4 percent.

Drake went 3-0 in the tournament, beating Miami and Florida Atlantic before dismissing Vanderbilt (6-1).

Jason Edwards led the Commodores with a game-high 26 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

But Tyler Nickel, who scored 24 points in Vanderbilt's win over Seton Hall on Friday, went scoreless on Sunday, missing all three of his shots.

In the first half, Drake had gone 0-for-4 on 3-pointers until Mascari drained two of them in the final three minutes.

There were seven tie scores in the first 20 minutes before Drake finally took a 34-31 lead into halftime, thanks in large part to Manyawu, who shot 7-for-9 and added two free throws.

Edwards led Vanderbilt with 14 points in an evenly-played first half. Drake hit on 50 percent of its shots from the floor, made four free throws and two 3-pointers. Vanderbilt hit on 48 percent from the floor, made five free throws and two 3-pointers.

In the second half, Drake built a 58-50 lead with 10:28 left on a desperation 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock by Tavion Banks.

Starting with 7:14 left, Drake players blocked Vanderbilt at the rim on three straight possessions -- two by Manyawu and one by Abreu.

Drake rolled from there as the Bulldogs put together another big victory for first-year coach Ben McCollum, who won four NCAA Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022).

It was also an overall strong tournament for new Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington, who brought in 10 transfers for this season.

--Field Level Media