Peoria Standard

Arch Madness Recap

St. Louis, MO. The Bradley Braves 25-9 (16-4) fall to the Drake Bulldogs 27-7 (15-5) in the MVC Tournament Championship game.

MVC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Cooper Neese, Indiana State; Rienk Mast, Bradley; JaShon Henry, Bradley; Roman Penn, Drake.

Doug Elgin Award for Most Outstanding Player— Tucker DeVries, Drake

MVC TOURNAMENT NOTES —Drake captured its second MVC Tournament title (other-2008), while advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in school history (1969, 1970, 1971, 2008, 2021) ... This will mark the Bulldogs' second NCAA Tournament appearance under coach Darian DeVries (2021) ... This marked the 17th time the No. 2 seed has won the MVC
tournament title and the first since 2017 when No. 2 Wichita State whipped No. 1 Illinois State, 71-51 ... The last time a team won all three MVC Tournament games by double-digits like Drake was Loyola in 2021 ... The No. 2 seed owns an 11-7 margin when facing the No. 1 seed in the championship. The No. 2 seed is 17-11 all-time in title games.

DRAKE NOTES — Drake, winning its third straight game, improved its record to 27-7 — the second most single-season wins
in school history only trailing the 2007-08 squad which went 28-5 ... The Bulldogs are 26-43 in the MVC Tournament, including
a 5-2 record as the No. 2 seed, a 2-2 record in championship games, and a 6-9 tournament mark against Bradley ... It marked
the third consecutive year – and fourth time all-time – that Drake has appeared in the MVC Tournament championship. Drake shot 56 percent (28-50), improving to 11-0 when shooting 50 percent or better this season ... Drake moved to 13-1 this year when opponents shoot less than 40 percent from the field ... Drake's bench tallied 16 points improving its record to 15-0 against MVC teams when it scores at least 10 points ... The Bulldogs improved to 21-3 when leading at half ... Drake improved to 14-1 this season when scoring 40 or more points in the first half ... Drake committed just nine turnovers, the 15th time this year they have been under double figures in turnovers ... Drake has now won 13 of its last 14 games.

DRAKE PLAYER PLAUDITS — Sophomore forward Tucker DeVries enjoyed his 15th 20-plus scoring game (21st in his career) with a game-high 22 points, including 13 in the second half. DeVries also made three three-point baskets, marking the 15th the time he has made three or more treys in a game this season (26th time in his career). DeVries moved up to No. 3 on the school single season three-point basket list at 87, passing Josh Young (2007-08) and Luke McDonald (2001-02) who each had 86 ... Senior forward Darnell Brodie scored 12 points and hauled in a game-high nine rebounds ... Graduate guard Garrett Sturtz contributed 12 points along with two rebounds ... Graduate guard Roman Penn added mine points along with a game- high six assists.

BRADLEY NOTES — Bradley, which had a 12-game winning streak snapped, fell to 25-9. The Braves are 40-40 in MVC tournament play, including a 4-5 mark in championship games and a 13-4 record as the No. 1 seed. loses in the MVC Tourney championship game for the first time since 2006 ... BU dropped to 1-8 all-time against No. 2 seeds in the MVC Tourney ... Bradley failed to record a blocked shot in a game for the first time since 1/1/17 vs. Wichita State ... Just the third time this season Bradley has been unable to force 10+ turnovers ... The 26-point margin was the largest defeat all season for the Braves.

BRADLEY PLAYER PLAUDITS — After scoring 30 points in the quarterfinals against UNI, junior forward Rienk Mast scored just six points today–following his lowest scoring output (two points) Saturday... Mast has failed to reach double digits only three times all season ... Mast is now 13 points shy of 1,000 in his career ... Graduate guard Ja'Shon Henry led the way for Bradley for the second straight game, scoring 10 points ... Senior forward Malevy Leons, who became the first player in MVC history to have 50 steals and 50 blocks in a season scored eight points.

First Half Recap – Drake's 41-21 lead is the third largest halftime margin in MVC Tournament title game history ... Drake's 20-point halftime advantage is its largest this year since leading Southern Illinois 45-22 at home on Feb. 11, 2023 ... Bradley's the deficit is its second-worst this year, trailing only a 45-23 margin at Drake on Jan. 14, 2023 (an eventual 86-61 Drake victory) ... Trailing 3-2, Drake went on a 12-0 run to take a 14-3 with 21 left in the first half ... The Bulldogs also added a pair of 7-0 runs in the half, the second getting Drake a 41-19 advantage with 1:17 before intermission ... Bradley's 21-point total is their lowest half since they managed 17 points against Liberty (Nov, 23).

Second-Half Recap – Tucker DeVries scored 13 points after intermission to lead the Drake second-half attack ... Bradley narrowed the gap early in the second half to 17 points early on with a Zek Montgomery three-pointer, but never got closer ... The Bulldogs shot 66.7 percent from the field (14-21) and 75 percent from long range (3-4) in the second half. The Drake defense continued to limit Bradley in the second half, holding the Braves to 40.6 percent shooting after intermission ... Bradley was held to 34.5 percent shooting for the game. 

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