BOX SCORE
DES MOINES, Iowa - With 12 newcomers and All-Conference forward Justin Brock making his first appearance in game action in over a year there certainly were some questions that the Quincy University men's basketball team was looking to answer this preseason. On Saturday Brock and the Hawks appeared to have answered those questions in an emphatic way as they picked up an 84-74 win over Drake University in an exhibition game.
Quincy head coach Marty Bell was making a return trip to Drake, a place where he spent several years as an assistant coach. Bell wasted no time in turning to forward Justin Brock, who missed last season due to an injury, to see if he was back in All-Conference form. Brock took the first two shots of the game for Quincy, scoring the team's first points on a jumper.
Drake tied the score on its next possession but Quincy grabbed a four point lead after back to back layups by Tyler Thompson and Justin Brock. From there the Hawks would take a 14-4 lead and never look back as they led the entire 40-minutes of the game.
Quincy led by as many as 13 points in the first-half but saw that lead shrink to four points at 36-32 with 4:39 remaining in the half. Quincy's Marshawn Norris responded with six straight points though to build the lead back up. Quincy would close the half with a 5-0 run on a three from Courtney Belger and a layup by Drake Vermillion that made the score 49-38.
Quincy led by double digits for nearly the entire second half and held a lead as large as 19 points in the game. Quincy shot 46-percent in the game including 56-percent in the first-half. The Hawks finished the game knocking down 10 of 28 three pointers and out rebounded Drake 42-28 in the game. The only bad news for Quincy in the game was when Tyler Thompson left the game with a knee injury.
Justin Brock led Quincy with 21 points and 14 rebounds, including six offensive boards. Marshawn Norris and Scott Hahn each added 14 points while Courtney Belger finished with nine points and six rebounds. Quincy is back in action tomorrow when they face Illinois State University in another exhibition contest.