'Gritty' Miami Applauded for Escaping No. 12 Drake's NCAA Men's tournament Upset Bid

The No. 5 seed Miami Hurricanes are still dancing.

Miami outlasted the No. 12 Drake Bulldogs 63-56 in the first round of the NCAA men's tournament Friday in Albany, New York.

While the Canes entered halftime down 30-25, they ended the game on a 16-1 run that spanned the final four minutes, 29 seconds.

Sophomore guard Nijel Pack led Miami with 21 points plus four rebounds. Sophomore guard Wooga Poplar added 15 points, and sophomore forward Norchad Omier finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Senior forward Darnell Brodie was Drake's leading scorer with 20 points and added nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Tucker DeVries had three points on 1-of-13 shooting, including 1-of-11 from downtown.

College basketball Twitter championed the Hurricanes for working hard down the stretch:

Miami, which reached the Elite Eight as a No. 10 seed last year, will face No. 4 Indiana or No. 13 Kent State in the next round.

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