LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Jahvon Quinerly scored 18 points, Jaden Shackelford and Juwan Gary each had 14, and No. 10 Alabama beat Drake 80-71 in the consolation round of ESPN Events Invitational on Friday.
Gary added 10 rebounds for Alabama (5-1), which was shocked 72-68 by coach Rick Pitino's Iona team in its tournament opener on Thursday.
D.J. Wilkins led Drake (3-2) with 17 points. ShanQuan Hemphill and Tucker DeVries both contributed 15.
Shackelford hit his first field goal of the second half with 3 minutes remaining. After Quinerly connected on a 3, Shackelford made a jumper to give Alabama a 74-64 advantage one minute later.
Alabama went up 59-57 with 7 1/2 minutes left on a 3-pointer by Keon Ellis and Noah Gurley's basket.
Wilkins’ 3 and a jumper by Roman Penn gave Drake a 55-52 lead with 9 1/2 minutes to play.
The first half saw both teams put together impressive scoring surges.
Shackelford scored seven points during a 23-4 run that put Alabama up 33-18 with 3:46 left.
Drake then closed out the opening 20 minutes with 11 straight points, including a buzz-beating 3 from Hemphill to get within 33-29.
BIG PICTURE
Alabama: Has had a disappointing start to the tournament even with the victory and has voters pondering how far to drop it in next week's poll.
Drake: Lost its first-round game to Belmont, 74-69, on Thursday. The Bulldogs made their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance last season and got their first tourney win in 50 years, 53-52 over Wichita State.
UP NEXT
Alabama: Plays Miami in Sunday’s fifth-place game.
Drake: Closes out the tourney against North Texas in the seventh-place game Sunday.
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