DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Seth VanDeest scored 19 points, including two straight baskets in the closing minutes, to lead Drake to a 72-69 victory over North Carolina Central on Wednesday night. VanDeest’s layup with 1:36 remaining gave the Bulldogs (5-5) a 68-66 lead, and he added another basket with 47 seconds left to make it a four-point game.

A 3-pointer by Stanton Kidd brought NC Central within 70-69 with 31 seconds left, but after Richard Carter hit two free throws for Drake with 11 seconds left, two 3-point attempts from the Eagles (5-6) in the final 3 seconds were off the mark. Ben Simons added 16 points for Drake, which hit 10 of 21 3-point attempts. Carter had 13 points and five assists. Kidd and Jeremy Ingram each had 23 points for NC Central, which was playing for the first time in 15 days.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tyrus McGee hit six 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, and Iowa State rallied behind a big second-half run to beat Missouri-Kansas City 76-61 on Wednesday night. Chris Babb added 12 points and Korie Lucious and Anthony Booker had 11 each for the Cyclones (9-3), who got everything they could handle from the Kangaroos (4-7) in the rare case of a Big 12 heavyweight visiting a school from the Summit League.

Estan Tyler matched a career-high with 17 points for the ‘Roos, including a basket with just over 16 minutes left that gave them a 39-35 lead over the stunned Cyclones. That’s when Iowa State finally started to get some transition baskets going, and the result was a 14-0 run that spanned the next 5 minutes and allowed the Cyclones to seize control.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Devyn Marble continued his red-hot shooting with 27 points, leading Iowa to a 90-46 rout of South Carolina State on Wednesday night. The Hawkeyes (10-2) are off to their best start since 2004-05. Marble scored 21 points in the first half — one more than South Carolina State (4-8) did as a team. The junior guard connected on a season-high six 3-pointers. He played only four minutes in the second half.

The Hawkeyes led 11-9 early in the first half when they exploded with a 19-4 run during a six-minute stretch. Matthew Hezekiah led South Carolina State with 12 points. The Bulldogs shot only 25 percent from the floor.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State says junior college running back Aaron Wimberly and three other recruits have committed to play for the Cyclones. Wimberly rushed for 1,150 yards and 13 touchdowns in leading Iowa Western to the NJCAA national title. Iowa State also landed junior college tight end Emmanuel Bibbs, who caught six TD passes for Arizona Western this fall. The Cyclones have brought in a pair of high school prospects from Orlando; linebacker Alton Meeks and lineman Shawn Curtis. Wimberly and Bibbs were second-team All-Americans at the junior college level this fall. Wimberly, Meeks and Curtis will join the Cyclones next semester and be eligible for spring practice.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Romeo Crennel isn’t worrying about his future with the Kansas City Chiefs. The veteran coach says he’s focused solely on trying to pluck off a win or two down the stretch in what has turned out to be a season of misery for the Chiefs. Not only is the team 2-12, but it’s also had to deal with a murder-suicide involving one of its players.

Crennel has been in the business for more than four decades, though, and he understands how tenuous jobs can be in pro football. He was fired after four seasons in Cleveland, one year after guiding the Browns to a 10-6 record. The Chiefs host the Colts on Sunday before visiting Denver to finish out the season, and Crennel says “the only control I have is trying to win a game.”