On Sunday, March 3, the Drake men’s basketball team took on the Bradley Braves in their last conference game of the season. With the stakes high going into the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, both teams came ready to play their hearts out on the court.
Not only was this game the last game for the Bulldogs before Arch Madness, but it was also Drake’s senior night. With a win in this game, the Bulldogs would not only honor their departing players, but they would also extend their at-home winning streak to 21 games in the Knapp Center and finish with a 16-0 home record.
“It’s always good on senior day if you can end with a win and then celebrate afterwards,” head coach Darian DeVries said in the postgame press conference. “We have two incredible senior players that meant a lot to our program this year with Kyron Gibson and Darnell Brodie for the last four years.”
In the first half of the game, the Bulldogs and Braves started off slow, with some struggles offensively at the 3-point line as well as in the paint. After the first five minutes, though, the Bulldogs woke up and left Bradley in the dust. Tucker DeVries put up 23 points in the first half alone and, with the help of his strong shooting skills, led Drake to a 43-29 lead going into halftime.
The Bulldogs and Braves took halftime as an opportunity to reset, and when both teams stepped onto the court, there was a feeling in the air that this half would be different. The Braves took advantage of the halftime break to regroup before putting 37 points on the board in an effort to outscore Drake in the second half, and they did.
Drake fought hard in the second half, but despite some strong attempts from the 3-point line and in the paint, they only put up 31 points in the half. Although Bradley outshot Drake in the second half, the Braves efforts were not enough against Drake’s offense and defense, and the Bulldogs walked away with a 74-66 win over Bradley.
This win meant many things for the Bulldogs. Besides the obvious 21 home game win streak and an impressive win on senior night, this win set up Drake as the official No. 2 seed team going into the Arch Madness tournament.
“Today was crazy,” Brodie said in his senior night speech. “I came here to Drake and everybody accepted me as family even with the new guys this year. It’s been a long journey here, and I’m at a loss for words. It was definitely an emotional day.”
If the Bulldogs are able to battle their way to the final game of Arch Madness, beat number one seed Indiana State and win the tournament, they’ll be granted a ticket to the NCAA March Madness tournament for the second year in a row.
The Arch Madness tournament will kick off on Thursday, March 7, at noon with the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds facing off. Seeding has not been set in stone at this time, but you can find live updates on the MVC Arch Madness website.
