It’s the championship game of Arch Madness, better known as the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, with the guaranteed spot in March Madness on the line in the Gateway City. The second-seeded Drake Bulldogs are the “road” team as they battle the top-seeded Bradley Braves in the title game Sunday afternoon. Drake took down third-seeded Southern Illinois 65-52 in their semifinal matchup Saturday evening and covered the line as a five-point favorite in their previous game. Bradley advanced as they held off fifth-seeded Indiana State, 71-70, in the semifinals Saturday afternoon, though they failed to cover as a 2.5-point favorite. In the all-time series between the teams, the Braves own a 92-61 advantage. This season, the teams split two meetings, each winning at home: Drake prevailed 86-61 at home January 14 while Bradley claimed a 73-61 home triumph in the most recent meeting February 26.
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Drake used a big first half run to take control of their semifinal matchup with Southern Illinois and rolled to the win to advance to the title game. The Bulldogs improved to 26-7 overall and hope to punch their ticket to March Madness by taking the rubber game of their set with Bradley. Against Southern Illinois, Drake trailed 9-0 early and by a 15-13 margin midway through the first half before taking command. The Bulldogs reeled off 17 straight points to go up 30-15 and never looked back. Drake led by 16 at the half and used a 15-2 run in the second half to pull away after Southern Illinois had made it a three-point game with 14 minutes remaining. The Bulldogs were up 58-42 with 6:40 to play and coasted the rest of the way. Drake shot 47.1% from the floor, including six of 14 from three-point range, and held Southern Illinois to 33.9% shooting. Roman Penn led the Bulldogs with 16 points and five assists in the win.
The Bulldogs put up an average of 75.6 points per game this season, putting them 90th in the nation in scoring offense. Drake collects 35.8 rebounds a night while dishing out 13.8 assists per game. The Bulldogs are above average on the defensive end, ranking 40th in scoring defense by allowing 64.7 points per game. Roman Penn (12.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists) and Tucker Devries (19.2 points, 5.6 boards) are each scoring in double figures this season. D.J. Wilkins, Garrett Sturtz, Darnell Brodie, Okay Djamgouz, Sardaar Calhoun, Conor Enright, Eric Norweather and Nate Ferguson are important contributors for the Bulldogs. Drake is shooting 46.8% from the field as a team this season. The Bulldogs average eight three-pointers a night while shooting 36.8% from beyond the arc. Drake is excellent at the charity stripe this season as they convert 77.5% of their chances on the year, putting them 16th in the nation.
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