The UNI men’s basketball team beat Drake University on Saturday with a final score of 82-66. This marks the fourth straight game the Panthers have won, with the team shooting 61.8 percent from the field against the Bulldogs.

Jeremy Morgan received the first bucket of the game with a quick layup assisted by Paul Jesperson. Just four minutes into the game, the score was tied at 8-8 with another layup by Morgan.

After a jump shot by Bulldog, Reed Timmer, the Panthers rallied to take a 16-10 lead. Defensively, the Panthers did not let the Bulldogs score for two minutes.

In just the first half, the Panthers shot 62.1 percent from the court compared to the Bulldogs’ 52.6 percent and did not shoot at all from the foul line. They had 18 points in the paint, 13 off of turnovers and got the bench involved with nine points.

UNI finished the first half of play with a tip-in shot by Klint Carlson with only two seconds left to begin halftime with a 28-41 lead.

Both teams came into the second half strong with buckets coming from each end of the court.

The Bulldogs cut the Panthers’ lead to eight with 14:24 left to play, but Jesperson and Matt Bohannon teamed up for eight points, increasing the Panther lead, 56-42.

With 4:44 left to play, UNI’s lead grew to 72-54 thanks to the Panthers’ 7-9 free-throw shooting. Drake could not get their shots to fall in the second half as they shot 13-29 from the field, and the Panthers took advantage.

The final bucket of the night came from Wyatt Lohaus three assisted by Carlson. Jesperson was deadly from all around the court as he led the team with 21 points. He shot 5-9 from the three-point spot and 8-13 from the field altogether.

The Panthers’ next game will be at home against Missouri State on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Missouri State has a 10-14 overall record and just recently came off an 83-64 loss against Evansville.