ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — Senior Anthony Murphy had a career-high 17 points with seven rebounds and Drake narrowly defeated Northeastern 59-56 in the Gulf Coast Showcase on Tuesday.
Liam Robbins made two free throws with 11 seconds left to give Drake a 57-54 lead. Jason Strong answered at the other end with a basket in the paint, but Roman Penn sealed it at the line for the Bulldogs with a second left.
“We just had a hard time getting into a flow offensively,” Drake head coach Darian DeVries said. “The good thing was our defense never let down in what was a grind-it-out game.”
Penn finished with 15 points for Drake (5-2), which earned its fifth consecutive home victory. D.J. Wilkins added 11 points and Garrett Sturtz had three points and nine rebounds.
Drake shot just 32 percent from the field but forced 19 turnovers, leading to 20 points.
“We’re going to have a lot of games in our league that are possession-by-possession games like this,” DeVries said.
“We’re going to need guys who step up on both ends of the floor and make plays. I thought we really had that today.”
Jordan Roland had 13 points for the Huskies (3-4). Bolden Brace added nine points and six rebounds.
