St. Louis, MO – The Bradley Braves 26-8 (15-5 MVC) second-half comeback fell short against the Drake Bulldogs 30-3 (17-3 MVC).
Looking Back
Drake defeated Bradley with a 63-48 victory on March 9, 2025, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The Braves earned their spot after defeating Murray State 70-62 and Valparaiso 70-65 each for their third time of the year. Drake beat Southern Illinois 70-53 and Belmont 57-50 on their path to the Championship game. It was a defensive battle in the finals, with neither squad scoring over 33 points in a half.
In the first half, the Braves found ways to score points in the paint, earning 16 of their 27 points down low. Bradley shot 52.17 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. The score was tied six times in that first half, as the Braves went into halftime trailing 31-27. 5th year
Darius Hannah shined in his final Arch Madness tournament run, scoring 19 points, adding on two blocks and two steals, shooting 63.6 percent from the floor in 36 minutes. Hannah led the Braves in points in all three games of the tournament. Throughout the tournament, he averaged 17.3 points per game, 7.7 rebounds a game, shooting 61.3 percent from the field and averaging 35.2 minutes a night. The effort from Hannah in his final MVC postseason game, as well as the rest of the tournament, earned him a spot on the All-Tournament team. 5th year
Duke Deen joined him with that accolade, scoring eight points and dishing out a team high five assists against the Bulldogs. In the tournament, Deen dished 10 assists and scored 10.3 points a game in 33 minutes a night.
Bennett Stirtz led the Bulldogs with 24 points and four assists. Drake relied on him when the Braves gained momentum. Skirtz shot five out of the six made threes for Drake. Skirtz and Mitch Mascari both played all 40 minutes for Drake, as Mascari only scored six points. Drake was able to capitalize on extra opportunities, scoring 11 points on off turnovers and 12 on fastbreaks, with 10 second-chance points. The Braves made a big comeback, but with 7:17 on the clock. After fouls were called on both sides, Drake regained all the momentum out of the dead time and never looked back.