Drake wins Arch Madness championship
MBB: The Bulldogs will go to the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year
Drake is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season after they beat Bradley, 63-48, in the Arch Madness final in St. Louis. The Bulldogs have now won Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles in the same year for the first time since 2008.
Bennett Stirtz, the Larry Bird Trophy Winner, led Drake with 24 points as he knocked down 5-of-7 three-pointers.
The Bulldogs are the first team to win the conference tournament title three years in a row since Southern Illinois did it from 1993-95.
Barring some wildly unforeseen circumstances, Drake will be the only Missouri Valley Conference team in the NCAA Tournament this year. Heading into today, BracketMatrix.com, which collects data on different online Bracketologists, has Drake’s average seeding listed as the highest #12-seed. After beating Bradley today, the Bulldogs are now 30-3 on the season. We’ll see where they settle one week from today when the official Bracket is released on Selection Sunday.