Home Bradley basketball falls to Drake: Recap, game highlights at MVC championship

Bradley basketball falls to Drake: Recap, game highlights at MVC championship

ST. LOUIS — The Bradley Braves run in the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament ended in heartbreak Sunday with a title game loss to rival Drake.

The Braves (26-8) cut a 10-point deficit in the second half down to six, but faded to a 63-48 loss as Valley Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz put it out of reach in the closing minutes.

Drake (30-3) clinched the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Braves were eliminated from Arch Madness by Drake for the third consecutive season, two of which came in the title game.

This story will be updated.

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Below are game updates from Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.

Bradley-Drake final score

TEAMS1st half2nd half—FINALBradley2721—48Drake3132—63

FINAL: Drake 63, Bradley 48

56-43

Bradley has gone 3:16 without a bucket from the field. Manyawu splits free throws after he goes hard to the deck on a flagrant foul from Hannah.

Technical fouls

Deen fading left, drains a 3 from the left wing to close within 46-41 with 7:17 left.

Drake answers with a bucket, then a physical exchange under the basket results in matching technical fouls for contact after dead ball.

Hannah shoots Bradley’s pair, misses both. Mascari makes both for Drake.

Then the Bulldogs get a 3 from Stirtz at 5:52 left for a 53-41 lead.

Tavion Banks adds a pair of free throws for Drake and Bradley now down 55-41 with 4:45 left.

Drake on an 8-0 run.

Braves picking it up

Duke Deen drills his first 3-pointer of the game, from the left corner, Braves get a stop, and freshman Jaquan Johnson goes barreling to the rim to draw foul shots, which he split.

BU cuts it to 42-35 with 9:25 left.

Hannah hits a 3 from the left corner and now the Braves get it within six at 8:18. Hannah has 16 points for Bradley. No one else has more than 5.

Both teams scuffling

The Braves now 1 of 8 from the field as the second half reaches 8:14 old. Drake only 3 of 10.

They go to the media break with 11:46 left and Bradley down, 37-29. Braves without points in the last 4:01.

Bradley fights back from 10 down

Hannah fights a layin up and in for Bradley’s first points of the second half 4:15 into it.

Cuts Drake’s 10-point lead to 37-29. The Braves missed their first six shots of the half.

Drake opens 8-point lead

The Braves miss their first two shots of the second half — both 3-pointers.

Drake gets a second-chance layup from Daniel Abreu and a dunk from Cam Manyawu to break it open, 35-27 with 17:31 left.

Timeout, Bradley, plus media break.

Numbers after 20

Bradley has 9 points from Darius Hannah and 5 each from Demarion Burch and Christian Davis.

Drake has 12 from Bennett Stirtz.

Both teams are shooting 52% from the field.

‘We bleed together’: Bradley basketball senior starters ready for one more postseason run

HALFTIME: Drake 31, Bradley 27

:20.5 left

Braves have the ball on a turnover and take a timeout with 20.5 seconds left in the half.

Duke Deen’s 3 from the top of the key is partially blocked, Drake recovers it and Isaiah Jackson races the other way for a layup as the buzzer goes off, sending Bradley to the locker room down four.

Big play

With the shot clock burning down, Darius Hannah takes a contested jumper, no good. But Ahmet Jonovic grabs an offensive rebound, kicks it out top to Demarion Burch, and he drains a 3 for a 27-24 Bradley lead with 4:02 left in the first half.

Big play guys everywhere. Burch put in a stepback jumper a minute earlier, and Christian Davis hit a corner 3 76 seconds before that.

Stirtz for 3

Bennett Stirtz’s third 3-pointer, from the left wing, brings Drake back to a 20-19 lead with 7:36 left.

Bradley’s biggest lead has been four points, while Drake’s biggest has been three.

Hannah again

The Braves turn the game back their way as Christian Davis gets a dunk and Darius Hannah drive to the rim for an and-1 and a 19-15 BU lead with 9:06 left.

The Braves forced Drake into a shot clock violation after that with 8:37 left.

Drake takes timeout. Bradley on a 7-0 run over 2:28.

Drake 15, Bradley 12

Zek Montgomery’s jumper as the shot clock is expiring is no good, and Drake takes it the other way for a 3 from the right wing by Bennett Stirtz and a 15-12 lead.

Jaquan Johnson ends up on the deck with the ball on the ensuing possession, but it’s ruled a jump ball and Drake gets it coming out of the 12-under break.

Drake surges

Bennett Stirtz knocks down a 3 from the right wing, then Duke Deen loses the handle for a turnover and the Bulldogs convert on a two-on-one break from Tavion Banks for a 12-10 lead with 14:24 left.

The Braves pick up a layin from Zek Montgomery to calm it down with a 12-12 tie.

Hannah imposing his will

Bradley senior Darius Hannah has gone to the rim twice in the first four minutes to help the Braves to an 8-6 lead at the under-16 media break.

All eight Bradley points have come in the paint.

Make that 10 of 10. Coming off the break, Hannah rolls to the rim and jams it in for 10-6 lead.

Braves open 6-2

Bradley big men get right to working inside as Ahmet Jonovic and Darius Hannah both layin shots at the rim, and Duke Deen goes to the rim on a back cut for 6-2 in the first three minutes.

Starters

Bradley sticks with its openers, guards Duke Deen and Zek Montgomery, wing Christian Davis, forward Darius Hannah and big man Ahmet Jonovic.

Drake counters with guards Isaiah Jackson, Mitch Mascari and Bennett Stirtz and forwards Cam Manyawu and Daniel Abreu.

What Bradley fans in St. Louis need to know

Bradley pre-game hangout: Braves fans can join the Bradley family, friends, cheerleaders, Bravettes, basketball pep band and Kaboom! at the pregame hangout at Bally Sports Live! at Ballpark Village during the Arch Madness Tournament in St. Louis this weekend.

On Sunday, the pregame party will start at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

There are trolleys to shuttle fans between Ballpark Village and the Enterprise Center. Those shuttles run continuous from Ballpark Village to Enterprise Center, starting one hour before the start of the first game each day and ending approximately one hour after the conclusion of the final game.

Sendoff from team hotel: Fans are welcome to attend the Braves team send-off from the Embassy Suites St. Louis Downtown Lounge (4th Floor) with the BU band, Bravettes, and Cheerleaders. Sunday send-off starts at 11:15 a.m.

History: Bradley basketball is having a historic 3-point shooting season. Here’s how it rates

Bradley vs Drake by the numbers

Bravely Speaking

Bradley is 26-7 overall now, the ninth-most wins in a single-season in program history. … Bradley head coach Brian Wardle’s 13 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament wins are most in program history. … Sunday’s matchup will mark the 20th time the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have squared off in the title game in MVC Tournament history. … Bradley senior guard Duke Deen has 102 3-pointers this season. He has 260 in 103 career games, trailing only Jeremy Crouch (262) in program history. … Bradley has made 321 3-pointers this season, third-most in a single season in program history behind the 2006-07 team (349) and 2007-08 (346). … Deen has 356 career assists with the Braves, 12th all-time. He had 4 assists Saturday to pass Anthony Parker and Sam Maniscalco, both at 355. … Bradley is 20-8 all-time as a top 3 seed in the MVC Tournament. BU is 6-3 as the No. 2 seed, and 43-41 all-time in MVC tournament games. …The Braves now are 16-1 in games in which freshman Jaquan Johnson has at least two free throw attempts, an assist and a steal. … Bradley senior forward Darius Hannah extended his ongoing program record for career games played to 148. … CBS has Kevin Harlan slated to call Sunday’s title game.

More:Missouri Valley basketball preseason poll: Bradley basketball picked as favorite

What time does Bradley play today?

  • Date: March 9, 2025
  • Time: 1:10 p.m. CT
  • Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri

What channel is the Bradley vs Drake game on today? 

More: The story behind Bradley basketball coach’s playful social media exchange with his wife

Bradley vs Drake live stream options 

Live stream on Paramount+

Bradley basketball vs Drake betting odds 

Game lines and odds from VegasInsider as of Saturday night: 

Bradley basketball schedule

Record: 26-7, 15-5

Buy Bradley basketball tickets this season via StubHub

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

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