Drake Prevails Against Indiana State To Win MVC For Second Straight Year
The Drake Bulldogs narrowly beat the Indiana State Sycamores 84-80 to advance from Arch Madness to March Madness.
On Sunday, the #2 Drake Bulldogs had a 15-point lead at halftime, and that lead grew to 18 with 11 minutes left, but the #1 Indiana State Sycamores did not worry as they crawled back to lose by only 4.
Drake was led by 2-time MVC Player Of The Year and the tournament Most Outstanding Player award. It was Tucker DeVries. DeVries had 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists to lead the Bulldogs. Atin Wright had 17 points, 1 assist, and 3 rebounds to help out with Darnell Brodie who also had 17 points, but he had 8 rebounds and one assist.
The Bulldogs shot an astounding 61.1 percent from behind the line (11/18.
Indiana State had 5 players with double figures. Jayson Kent led them with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Isaiah Swope had 19 points, 2 assists, and 3 rebounds. Robbie Avila had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Ryan Conwell had 13 points, and 7 rebounds as well, with only one assist, and finally, Julian Larry had 10 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.
Drake will find out who they play in the first round on Selection Sunday which is next Sunday.
These seedings (#1 and #2) are their conference tournament seeds, not NCAA rankings. In the JCU vs. Calvin game, those rankings were the NCAA rankings.