ST. LOUIS — Darius Hannah scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and added 12 rebounds to help No. 2 seed Bradley beat No. 11 Valparaiso 70-65 on Saturday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The Braves will play Drake in the championship game Sunday with an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line. The teams split their two regular-season games, with each winning on the other’s home court.
Hannah also contributed 12 rebounds for the Braves (26-7). Christian Davis scored 14 points and Ahmet Jonovic had 12 points and three blocks.
All Wright scored 24 points to lead the Beacons (14-19), Cooper Schwieger added 19 points and Jefferson Monegro finished with 15 points and two steals.
After trailing 34-31 at the half, Bradley erased a five-point deficit with an 11-2 run for a 55-51 lead with 10:03 left.
Drake 57, Belmont 50
Bennett Stirtz had 24 points to lead top seed Drake rally for a 57-50 victory over fourth-seeded Belmont in the first semifinal, putting the Bulldogs one win away from winning their third consecutive tournament title.
Stirtz, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, added five rebounds and four steals for the Drake (29-3), which has the most victories in the NCAA this season and set a school record for wins.
Sam Orme led the Bruins (22-11) with 13 points and added two steals.
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.