AP PHOTO – Drake’s Bennett Stirtz celebrates with teammates following a victory over Bradley in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
ST. LOUIS — Bennett Stirtz scored 24 points, Tavion Banks added 13 and top-seeded Drake defeated No. 2-seed Bradley 63-48 on Sunday to win Arch Madness for the third consecutive time.
The Bulldogs (30-3) will be making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth in the past five years. They won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship for the first time since 2019.
A 3-pointer by Demarion Burch gave Bradley a 27-24 lead with four minutes left in the first half but the Braves did not score again until 15:20 remained in the second half. Drake finished the first half with a 7-0 run to lead 31-27 and the Bulldogs added the first six points of the second half.
Drake led 46-41 with seven minutes left in regulation then Bradley went cold again. The Bulldogs went on a 15-2 run capped by a dunk and a 3-pointer by Stirtz.
Bradley (26-8) went nearly 5 1/2 minutes without a made field goal before Darius Hannah scored in the paint to make it 61-47. Hannah’s bucket turned out to be the Braves’ only basket in seven attempts over the final 7:17.
Hannah led Bradley with 19 points that included 7-of-11 shooting. Bradley shot 52% in the first half and 28% in the second, finishing at 42% for the game.
Stirtz made 5 of 7 3-pointers and was 7 for 13 overall for Drake. Banks had a game-high nine rebounds. Drake hit on 46% from the field.
Missouri Valley Conference Tournament
At Enterprise Center, St. Louis
First Round
Thursday, March 6
Southern Illinois 86, Indiana St. 85
Illinois St. 70, Missouri St. 54
Murray St. 74, Evansville 53
Valparaiso 67, Illinois-Chicago 50
Quarterfinals
Friday, March 7
Drake 70, Southern Illinois 53
Belmont 76, Illinois St. 63
Bradley 70, Murray St. 62
Valparaiso 64, UNI 63
Semifinals
Saturday, March 8
Drake 57, Belmont 50
Bradley 70, Valparaiso 65
Championship
Sunday, March 9
Drake 63, Bradley 48
Drake 63, Bradley 48
BRADLEY (26-8) — Hannah 7-11 4-7 19, Jonovic 1-2 0-0 2, Deen 3-6 0-0 8, Montgomery 2-8 0-0 4, Davis 2-6 2-2 7, Johnson 0-3 3-4 3, Burch 2-3 0-0 5, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Atlason 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17-41 9-13 48.
DRAKE (30-3) — Abreu 1-5 2-4 4, Manyawu 4-8 1-3 9, Jackson 2-2 0-2 5, Mascari 1-6 4-4 6, Stirtz 7-13 5-6 24, Banks 5-7 3-4 13, Combs 1-5 0-0 2, Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-46 15-23 63.
Halftime–Drake 31-27. 3-Point Goals–Bradley 5-20 (Deen 2-5, Burch 1-2, Hannah 1-2, Davis 1-5, Thomas 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Montgomery 0-2), Drake 6-15 (Stirtz 5-7, Jackson 1-1, Combs 0-1, Abreu 0-2, Mascari 0-4). Rebounds–Bradley 16 (Jonovic, Montgomery 3), Drake 29 (Banks 9). Assists–Bradley 13 (Deen 5), Drake 11 (Stirtz 4). Total Fouls–Bradley 14, Drake 14. A–7,952 (21,000).
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