Drake DU 20-14

Bradley BRAD 22-11

Drake DU

20-14

Final

Mar. 07, 2020

Bradley BRAD

22-11

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Drake DU	35	31	66
Bradley BRAD	44	32	76

Box Score

Bradley Advances to MVC Championship After 76-66 Win Over Drake

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/7/2020 6:32:00 PM

St. Louis – The Bradley men's basketball team is headed to its second-straight Missouri Valley Conference Championship, leading nearly wire-to-wire in a 76-66 semifinal victory against Drake on Saturday afternoon. The Braves improve to 22-11 with the win, while the Bulldogs end their quest for a NCAA Tournament bid with a 20-14 mark.

Senior Darrell Brown led Bradley in scoring for the second-straight postseason game, tallying 25 points to go with four assists. Overall, five Braves scored in double figures in the winning effort. Senior Nate Kennell added 12 points – scoring 10 in the second half – while junior Elijah Childs tallied 11 points to go with a team-leading eight rebounds and three blocks.

Junior Danya Kingsby also scored 11 points with senior Koch Bar chipping in 10 points.

An early run put the Braves in front for good, After the Bulldogs claimed their only lead of the day, 4-2, Brown sunk his first field goal attempt with a 3-pointer – setting up a big afternoon for the senior guard and giving BU a 5-4 advantage. Brown's triple ignited a 7-0 run and turned in to a further 16-4 spurt as the Braves were quickly up by double digits, 18-8, less than eight minutes into the contest.

Drake eventually pulled within four in the first half, 24-20, only for Brown to take over for BU. Brown scored 13 points in the final 5:17 as Bradley headed into the locker room with a 44-35 lead.

Brown led all scorers with 19 first-half points as Bradley shot 52.9 percent in the opening 20 minutes of action for the nine-point edge at the intermission.

The Braves picked up in the second half where they left off in the first, quickly stretching their advantage to 13, 49-36, following Kennell's first triple of the game. With Bradley in front, 52-39, Drake finally made its run – using a 10-0 spurt to pull within just three, 52-49, with 11:32 remaining. However, Kennell connected on a jumper on the ensuing possession and ignited a 7-0 Bradley run to put the Braves back in front by double digits, 59-49.

Drake made one final push to cut its deficit to six, 63-57, with five minutes remaining on the clock. However, Childs then sunk his first 3-pointer of the game to end any thoughts of a comeback. The Bulldogs were never within two possessions the remainder of the game as Bradley secured the 76-66 victory and advanced to its second-straight MVC Championship.

Bradley made 49.1 percent of its field goals in the winning effort, while holding Drake to 42.6 percent shooting and 5-of-18 from beyond the arc.

The Braves now await for the winner of the day's second semifinal between Missouri State and Valparaiso. An automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Tournament is on the line with a 1 p.m. tipoff on CBS.

Game Notes: Bradley's 76 points are its most in a MVC Tournament game since scoring 81 against Creighton in 2010 … With his 25 points, Brown raised his career total to 1,839 – passing Paul Unruh for fifth in school history (Unruh had 1,822 points from 1946 to 1950) … Bradley advanced to its eighth MVC Championship game (3-4 record in previous appearances) … BU also advanced to back-to-back title games for the first time in school history … The Braves were facing Drake for the 14th time in MVC Tournament history (most of any two schools in the tournament's history) … Bradley improved to 9-5 against the Bulldogs, winning the last four meetings … The Braves will attempt to become the ninth program to repeat as conference champions … BU's seven turnovers are its fewest in a MVC Tournament game since 2011.

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