There were 16 lead changes and nine ties in the last Arch Madness semifinal game Saturday evening.
But the final tie-breaking shot came in epic fashion with time ticking away.
Drake sophomore guard Joseph Yesufu, the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Sixth Man of the Year, split Missouri State’s Gaige Prim and Demarcus Sharp and drained a layup to put the No. 2-seeded Bulldogs ahead of the No. 4-seeded Bears 71-69 with 2.5 seconds left.
“[Coach] just said if I have a drive, just finish it or have [Darnell] Brodie on the roll,” said Yesufu, who scored a game-high 25 points. “I had the layup, so I’m very thankful for that. … It was probably the biggest shot of my life.”
Missouri State, which was out of timeouts by that point, had to hang its hopes on a half-court heave by Sharp.
It missed wide left, and Drake advanced to the MVC tournament championship game for the first time since 2008.
“It’s certainly right up there [as one of the best wins of my tenure] when you look at the circumstances,” said Drake coach Darian DeVries, the 2021 MVC Coach of the Year. “Postseason play, conference tournament, everything that surrounds that. It was a huge win for us.”
The game was seen as potentially one of the best in the tournament going in — and it lived up to the billing.
Neither team led by more than six points, and that came early when Drake fired off three straight buckets to start the game. Prim vs. Brodie was a perfect big-man matchup. DeVries and Missouri State coach Dana Ford appeared to be playing a coaching chess match.
But DeVries called checkmate and put his Bulldogs in position for a potential NCAA Tournament appearance, no matter if they win or lose to No. 1-seeded Loyola Chicago in the championship.
Don’t tell the players about getting into March Madness, though.
“We’re not really worried about that,” Yesufu said. “We’re focused on Loyola. Whatever happens, happens. … That’s what we’re focused on right now. We’re not focused on the NCAA Tournament right now.”
Since the game was so close, Drake had some players play some big minutes. Yesufu and junior guard Garrett Sturtz both played all 40 minutes. Junior guard DJ Wilkins played 36 minutes.
With their next game 20 hours after their last game ended, DeVries said the Bulldogs are focused on getting as much rest as they can heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. game against Loyola Chicago.
“Like everybody, [we’ll] try to get back and get some recovery things going,” DeVries said. “[We’ll have to] get some rest because it comes around quick tomorrow. … We’re going to have to be as fresh as possible.”