Drake built on a four point halftime lead and wore down Bradley in the second half to win the Missouri Valley Conference basketball championship 63-48 Sunday in St. Louis.

MVC Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz scored a game-high 24 points and Tavion Banks had 13 points and nine rebounds to help the Bulldogs  win their third consecutive conference crown and the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Drake improves to 30-3, the most wins in Division I men’s basketball.

Darius Hannah led the Braves (26-8) with 19 points.