The Bradley men’s basketball team will play for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title after fending off upset-minded Valparaiso in Saturday’s second semifinal in St. Louis.
Darius Hannah led the way with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the No. 2 seed Braves notched a 70-65 victory, earning a matchup with top-seeded Drake in Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. Arch Madness championship game at Enterprise Center.
Bradley trailed the No. 11-seed Beacons most of the way — with the deficit reaching 11 points in the first half — before Jaquan Johnson was fouled making a driving layup with 10:36 left in the second half. He converted the three-point play to put the Braves ahead 54-51.
Valparaiso stayed within four points over the next six minutes, then went up by two on Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro’s three free throws with 4:22 on the clock.
Hannah’s second-chance tip-in with 3:27 to play evened the game at 63-63, and Duke Deen followed by connecting on a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:45 remaining that gave the Braves (26-7) the lead for good.
Valpo (15-19) then missed its final five field goal attempts over the last two minutes, ending its bid for a third upset victory in three days.
Beacons freshman All Wright topped all scorers with 24 points. Christian Davis had 14 points and Ahmet Jonovic added 12 for the Braves, who opened their tournament run Friday with a 70-62 quarterfinal win over Murray State.
Two-time defending champion Drake (29-3) avoided its own semifinal upset by holding off Belmont (22-11) in Saturday's first game, 57-50.
Bradley will look to beat the Bulldogs for a second time in three tries this season in Sunday’s final, with the MVC’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid at stake.
