'We'll be back': Bradley MVC tournament run ends with loss to Drake in championship game

ST. LOUIS — The Bradley Braves were looking for "One More" but Drake was on a mission for "No More" in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game on Sunday.

After title game losses in the past two seasons, Drake's third try was an aggressive, dominating performance that sent Bradley to a 77-51 loss Sunday before 6,706 at Enterprise Center, two-thirds of which were fans wearing Braves red.

"I told them, 'Tears are fine,' " Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "We're going to let this hurt for a couple days now. We tried. We all tried. We just didn't have it. We all have to be better.

"We'll be back. We'll be back in this game, and if we keep this group together we'll be better for it."

Box score: Drake 77, Bradley 51 | Preview: Numbers to know for Arch Madness | Results: Arch Madness

The Braves were just not ready for an experienced, older Drake team that was determined not to lose another title game, and also determined to recover its dignity after Bradley destroyed the Bulldogs a week ago, 73-61, in front of a sellout crowd in Peoria to win the Valley regular-season title.

What followed was the largest margin of loss by a No. 1 seed in Valley tournament title history, surpassing No. 2 Creighton's 80-56 win over No. 1 SIU in 2003.

"They looked like they'd been in this game before, been in this moment before, and we only had one player on our roster who's been in this game and that's Ja'Shon Henry," Wardle said. "They hunted us. We've been hunting people for a while, but not today, they came after us pretty hard. had chip on shoulder from last week. They performed really well in a championship game and we did not."

'A lot to take in'

Bradley forward Ja'Shon Henry came back for a fifth year because he believed this BU team was going to be special, and they did not disappoint. He willed them to victory over Indiana State in the semifinals on Saturday, then added six points in his final Valley game on Sunday.

In the final minutes, clock winding down and Braves starters Rienk Mast and Malevy Leons making that curtain call walk to the bench, Henry sat there, towel over his head, lost in his thoughts.

"I was just looking back at my five years here, looking at the team, the crowd, very thankful," Henry said. "I'm never going to play in this tournament again. It was a lot to take in. I love this team. I don't think we're done playing yet, but this one burns."

'They hunted us': Everything Brian Wardle said after the MVC tournament title loss to Drake

Henry was 8-0 over his career in the Valley tournament until Sunday.

"That's an experienced team, older, and you could tell from their level of execution and focus and heart, it was all there," he said. "We just didn't come out and play the way we wanted. Yes, it hurts. We can wallow in it, we can sit in it, but we got to move on here next couple days and be ready to move on.

"But I'm just super thankful. This team, this program, these fans. Bradley made a dream come true for a kid from a small town in Saskatchewan, to play NCAA Div.-I basketball. It's a dream I had as a kid, a dream my late father had for me. I make that two taps to my chest and point up to him. Pray to him that he lives through me in this game. Hope that I can have the heart and desire that he did from being a father and a brother.

"That's what drove me in this tournament."

It went sideways from the start

The Braves opened 1-of-9 from the field and 0-of-3 from the free throw line. Drake, meanwhile, charged ahead 21-7 on Sardaar Calhoun's 3 from the left wing at 10:28. Then Garrett Sturtz put away a runner in the lane for 23-7 at 9:35, and there was no coming back for Bradley.

"I expected more from myself," said Bradley center Rienk Mast, who had six points and six rebounds. "I personally didn't have it today, and that really stings right now. They (Drake) were still upset about last week. We tried to hunt them, but instead they got us."

Said Bradley guard Connor Hickman: "It's really frustrating to not show up in a game like this. It's not fair to your teammates and the fans. I didn't have it today. Frustrating to know that."

Drake shot 56% from the field against a Bradley team that was 13th in the nation in defensive field goal percentage at 39.1%. They shot 57% from 3, and made eight of them. They opened on the gas pedal and stayed there. Then the silly stuff happened.

Big Drake center Darnell Brodie — who shoots 60% from the free throw line — made 2 of 2. Then Brodie tried his first 3-pointer of the entire season — and banked it in from above the arc.

"I love this team, we've had a great year," Wardle said. "We just looked like an inexperienced team. We took out-of-character shots, did out-of-character things. We could never string together stops to get on a run. It just wasn't our day.

"As a coach you want for your players to experience the things you have. I've won this tournament and been in the NCAA tournament and these guys have not. Connor Hickman was in eighth grade when Roman Penn started college (at Siena). I got a lot of guys who were in seventh grade when their guys were in college.

"We looked like that today."

MVC awards: Bradley basketball pulled in a Missouri Valley awards haul. Here's what BU won

MVC All-Tournament Team

Bradley forwards Rienk Mast and Ja'Shon Henry were named to the Missouri Valley Conference all-tournament team. Drake landed spots for Tucker DeVries and Roman Penn. The fifth spot went to Indiana State's Cooper Neese. DeVries was named tournament MVP.

In the huddle

• Bradley forward Ja'Shon Henry, on what his next steps are: "I've been in this postseason before. I got to try to get our guys back, get our swagger back and we still have games to play."

• Bradley coach Brian Wardle, on Ja'Shon Henry: "I love J-Hen, he's a tremendous man and person. I didn't say my goodbyes to him yet because we still have games to play. But he's meant a lot to me personally and to this team, always a great teammate and leader off the court, too."

• Bradley guard Connor Hickman, on Drake's overwhelming performance: "You could feel it. You could feel it from the start, how they were guarding, the shots they were making, every decision they made was a confident one. Decisive."

• Henry, on Bradley being unable to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament: "I have the utmost confidence in my team, that we could be an NCAA team, that we are deserving. But it's just not in the cards for us, which is fine."

• Drake coach Darian DeVries: "I thought in Peoria we didn't move the ball as well as we would have liked and a lot of that had to do with Bradley and some of it had to do with, quite honestly, me."

• DeVries, on winning the title in the team's third try: "This group of guys here were incredibly determined to get to this spot. Not today, but a year ago. That's why they came back and for them to be rewarded is pretty special."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley is 25-9, while Drake improved to 27-7. … Drake veterans Roman Penn and DJ Wilkins have more starts in their careers than Bradley's entire starting five combined. … The Braves got 10 points from Ja'Shon Henry and 9 from Duke Deen and 7 from Zek Montgomery. … Drake got 22 from Tucker DeVries and 12 points each from Darnell Brodie and Garrett Sturtz. … Braves 7-foot-1 center Ahmet Jonovic played the final 3:14 and scored a bucket.

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 deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

Other Bradley basketball stories

• Semifinal win: Bradley survives semifinal scare to advance to MVC championship game

• Quarterfinal win: Bradley survives, advances with tight win over Northern Iowa

• Remember when: Catching up with Bradley's last MVC champion

FINAL: Drake 77, Bradley 51

Curtain calls

3:04 p.m.: Rienk Mast left with 6 points and 3:12 left. Ahmet Jonovic got his first Arch Madness minutes. Malevy Leons follows at 2:23.

The largest margin of defeat by a No. 1 seed in the MVC tournament title game is an 80-56 decision by Creighton over SIU in 2003.

Drake wrapping it up

2:58 p.m.: When Tucker DeVries drove to the rim, it was 70-43 Drake with 4:07 left and the Bulldogs were zeroed in on a Valley title after losing in this game the last two years.

Time is running short

2:50 p.m.: Drake's Connor Enright banks in a jumper from the top of the key for 59-36 with 11:35 left -- a minute after Darnell Brodie made two free throws (he's 60% on the season).

No relief in sight for the Braves. They trail 64-43 with 7:54 left.

Drake 53, Braves 30

2:30 p.m.: Zek Montgomery opened the second half with a 3 from the left wing for 41-24.

But Garrett Sturtz answered with short jumper, Roman Penn left-handed layup for 44-26.

Then Penn had a layup and-1 for 47-26 at 17:30.

Rienk Mast missed a 3, and Sturtz tips in a Penn missed layup on a follow to the rim for 49-26 at 16:35.

Malevy Leons put in a layup for 49-28.

Darnell Brodie jumper uncontested for 51-28 at 15:25.

Connor Hickman drive to the rim for 51-30. But Roman Penn layup for 53-40 at 14:40.

HALFTIME: Drake 41, Bradley 21

2:04 p.m.: Things kept going wrong for Bradley. Duke Deen's pass was stolen, and Drake's DJ Wilkins with a 3 from left wing for 39-19 with 1:52 left.

They went to the half with a 41-21 lead over the Braves, who shot just 6 of 23 from the field.

Braves are in trouble

1:54 p.m.: Bradley slipped to 4 of 19 from the field while DeVries spun around Henry and to the rim for 29-14 at 4:46.

Then DeVries stole the ball from Henry, raced down the floor and pounded down a 3 from the right wing for 32-14 with 4:19 left.

Drake 25, Bradley 12

1:46 pm.: Drake charged ahead 21-7 on Calhoun's 3 from left wing at 10:28.

Then Garrett Sturtz runner in the lane for 23-7 at 9:35.

Duke Deen brought Bradley back with a 3 from left corner for 23-10, but he was hit with a technical for taunting Drake bench at 9:20.

Sturtz then hit a pull-up jumper at 7:45 for 25-10 Drake lead.

Ja'Shon Henry answered at the rim for 25-12 and they went to the 8-under media break.

Drake opens 16-5 lead

1:37 p.m.: DeVries drives to the rim on Leons for 8-3 at 14:10. Deen shot no good, Drake comes down and gets a 3 from the left wing by Sardaar Calhoun for 11-3. Bradley timeout with 13:55.

Ja'Shon Henry missed both free throws, remains 11-3. Drake comes down and gets corner 3 from DJ Wilkins for 14-3 at 13:16.

Bradley 1 of 9 from the field and 0 of 3 from the free throw line.

Hannah with a pair of free throws for Bradley's first points in a span of 3:45.

Braves just 1 of 9 from the field.

Leons vs DeVries

1:24 p.m.: Bradley missed its first two shots and turned it over on the third possession, but got on the board when Zek Montgomery split free throws at 17:21 to cut it to 2-1.

The Braves put MVC Defensive Player of the Year Malevy Leons on Drake sniper and Valley Player of the Year Tucker DeVries from the outset.

Bradley inched ahead, 3-2, on a rebound and putback by Rienk Mast at 16:09.

Starting lineup

12:54 p.m.: Bradley sticks with guards Connor Hickman and Duke Deen, wing Zek Montgomery, forward Malevy Leons and center Rienk Mast.

Drake counters with guards Tucker DeVries, Roman Penn, DJ Wilkins, Garrett Sturtz and center Darnell Brodie.

The Bulldogs are 1.5-point favorites on most Vegas books.

Tahvanainen is out

12:48 p.m.: Bradley senior guard Ville Tahvanainen left Saturday's semifinal win and headed to the locker room with about 8 minutes left. We know why now: He suffered concussion-type symptoms and is in street clothes today, a scratch for the title game.

2023 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

Thursday's first round

• (8) Northern Iowa 75, (9) Illinois State 62

• (5) Indiana State 97, (12) Evansville 58

• (7) Murray State 78, (10) Valparaiso 50

• (6) Missouri State 74, (11) Illinois Chicago 57

Friday's quarterfinals

• (1) Bradley 72, (8) Northern Iowa 66

• (5) Indiana State 94, (4) Belmont 91

• (2) Drake 74, (7) Murray State 62

• (3) Southern Illinois 54, (6) Missouri State 51

Saturday's semifinals

• (1) Bradley 71, (5) Indiana State 70

• (2) Drake 65 (3) Southern Illinois 52

Sunday's championship

• (2) Drake 77, (1) Bradley 51

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 'We'll be back': Bradley Braves MVC tournament run ends with loss to Drake in championship game