Tucker DeVries, who scored 23 points, hit the deciding two free throws with 1.1 seconds left in overtime to give Drake a 79-78 win over Missouri State in Saturday’s second semifinal of the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
Roman Penn had 19 points, six assists and seven rebounds for Drake, 24-9, which advances to meet No. 4 seed Loyola in a 1 p.m. Sunday championship game. It’s the first time in 46 MVC Tournaments that a No. 3 seed and a No. 4 seed will play for the title.
Drake had just five turnovers and made 17 of 19 free throws.
Isiaih Mosley scored 27 points to lead the Bears, now 23-10 and awaiting post-season tournament possibilities. Gage Prim had 19 of his 21 points after halftime for MSU which had a 66-61 advantage with 2:09 left in regulation.
But Penn scored Drake’s last seven points in regulation to help force the overtime. The Bulldogs led 68-66 on Penn’s two free throws with 24 seconds left, when Donovan Clay’s layup on a Mosley assist sent the game to overtime.
The teams traded leads for the first 3 ½ minutes of overtime before Devries hit a second-chance three-pointer to put Drake ahead 77-74 with 1:27 left. After an MSU time out, Clay’s layup cut the MSU deficit to 77-76. The Bulldogs’ missed shot was deflected out of bounds to MSU with 25 seconds left.
Mosley’s layup with nine seconds left gave the Bears a 78-77 lead, but DeVries was fouled with 1.1 seconds remaining and made them both for the win.
MSU led 33-32 at halftime after a first half in which neither team led by more than four points, Drake opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 41-33 lead with 16:47 left. The Bear chiseled away at that lead and caught up thanks to Prim scoring 11 straight MSU points 12:09 to 7:44 of the second half.
Mosley’s first points in the second half, a three-pointer, gave the Bears a 57-55 lead with 6:51 left, but Darnell Brodie quickly tied it with a layup for Drake.
The Bears matched their biggest lead at 64-59 at the 2:09 mark, but Penn’s old school three-point play, a Bear turnover and two Penn free throws tied the game at 66-66 with 1:09 left.
A DeVries steal put Penn back on the line with 27.4 seconds left, and he swished a pair to give Drake a 68-66 lead. MSU missed two tries and the ball landed out of bounds for the Bears. Mosley assisted on Clay’s layup that sent the game to overtime.
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