Donte Thomas wrapped up his 13-point, 14-rebound double-double with a putback with 1.2 seconds left to lift Bradley to a 63-61 win over Drake on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Darrell Brown led the fifth-seeded Braves (20-12) with 24 points. He sank a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 61 with 2:49 to play. Both teams had opportunities after that, but the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (16-16) missed their last eight shots after Reed Timmer’s 3-pointer at 6:29 produced a 57-56 lead. Bradley had four misses between its last two baskets.
Bradley faces league champion Loyola Chicago in the semifinals on Saturday.
Drake, which hasn’t played in a MVC semifinal since 2008, closed the first half with a 10-2 run for a 35-27 lead. Bradley scored the first 12 points of the second half to go up 39-35 and the biggest lead after that was six points.
Timmer led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Drake shot 29 percent from the floor in the second half and was outrebounded 25-14 after intermission.
