AP PHOTO - Drake’s Bennett Stirtz celebrates with teammates following a victory over Bradley in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS — Bennett Stirtz scored 24 points, Tavion Banks added 13 and top-seeded Drake defeated No. 2-seed Bradley 63-48 on Sunday to win Arch Madness for the third consecutive time.

The Bulldogs (30-3) will be making their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth in the past five years. They won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship for the first time since 2019.

A 3-pointer by Demarion Burch gave Bradley a 27-24 lead with four minutes left in the first half but the Braves did not score again until 15:20 remained in the second half. Drake finished the first half with a 7-0 run to lead 31-27 and the Bulldogs added the first six points of the second half.

Drake led 46-41 with seven minutes left in regulation then Bradley went cold again. The Bulldogs went on a 15-2 run capped by a dunk and a 3-pointer by Stirtz.

Bradley (26-8) went nearly 5 1/2 minutes without a made field goal before Darius Hannah scored in the paint to make it 61-47. Hannah’s bucket turned out to be the Braves’ only basket in seven attempts over the final 7:17.

Hannah led Bradley with 19 points that included 7-of-11 shooting. Bradley shot 52% in the first half and 28% in the second, finishing at 42% for the game.

Stirtz made 5 of 7 3-pointers and was 7 for 13 overall for Drake. Banks had a game-high nine rebounds. Drake hit on 46% from the field.

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament

At Enterprise Center, St. Louis

First Round

Thursday, March 6

Southern Illinois 86, Indiana St. 85

Illinois St. 70, Missouri St. 54

Murray St. 74, Evansville 53

Valparaiso 67, Illinois-Chicago 50

Quarterfinals

Friday, March 7

Drake 70, Southern Illinois 53

Belmont 76, Illinois St. 63

Bradley 70, Murray St. 62

Valparaiso 64, UNI 63

Semifinals

Saturday, March 8

Drake 57, Belmont 50

Bradley 70, Valparaiso 65

Championship

Sunday, March 9

Drake 63, Bradley 48

Drake 63, Bradley 48

BRADLEY (26-8) — Hannah 7-11 4-7 19, Jonovic 1-2 0-0 2, Deen 3-6 0-0 8, Montgomery 2-8 0-0 4, Davis 2-6 2-2 7, Johnson 0-3 3-4 3, Burch 2-3 0-0 5, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Atlason 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17-41 9-13 48.

DRAKE (30-3) — Abreu 1-5 2-4 4, Manyawu 4-8 1-3 9, Jackson 2-2 0-2 5, Mascari 1-6 4-4 6, Stirtz 7-13 5-6 24, Banks 5-7 3-4 13, Combs 1-5 0-0 2, Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-46 15-23 63.

Halftime–Drake 31-27. 3-Point Goals–Bradley 5-20 (Deen 2-5, Burch 1-2, Hannah 1-2, Davis 1-5, Thomas 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Montgomery 0-2), Drake 6-15 (Stirtz 5-7, Jackson 1-1, Combs 0-1, Abreu 0-2, Mascari 0-4). Rebounds–Bradley 16 (Jonovic, Montgomery 3), Drake 29 (Banks 9). Assists–Bradley 13 (Deen 5), Drake 11 (Stirtz 4). Total Fouls–Bradley 14, Drake 14. A–7,952 (21,000).