CEDAR CITY, Utah - Despite a valiant effort from a depleted roster, the Drake University men's basketball team's season came to an end Friday evening in an 80-73 overtime loss at Southern Utah in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
 
The loss ended the Bulldogs' historic season that saw the team win 24 games, the third most in program history, and earn a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title.
 
Noah Thomas (Sydney, Australia) led the Bulldogs with 19 points before being hobbled late with cramps. Tremell and Anthony Murphy (Griffith, Ind.) both notched double-doubles as Anthony posted 13 points and 10 boards while Tremell had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Liam Robbins also added 14 points in a starting role as he filled in for injured All-MVC talent Nick McGlynn.
 
The Bulldogs faced an 11-rebound deficit as the Thunderbirds' Harrison Butler posted 21 points and 11 rebounds.
 
"I thought they left it out there," Darian DeVries, the MVC Coach of the Year, said of his Drake team. "We weren't great in the first half and we challenged them to leave it all on the court."
 
Drake rolled out to an early lead before a 10-0 Southern Utah run pushed the Thunderbirds ahead en route to a 27-23 halftime lead.
 
However, the Bulldogs responded following the break and a 10-0 run that featured eight points from the Murphy twins gave Drake a 63-52 lead with less than eight minutes remaining. Unfortunately, that momentum was short-lived as an SUU press was successful in slowing down the Bulldogs and forcing enough turnovers to allow the Thunderbirds to outscore Drake, 16-2, over the next seven minutes and take a four-point lead into the final minute.
 
"For the first 15 minutes [of the second half] we were great and then they slapped the press on and it caught us by surprise," DeVries said.
 
Drake's Brady Ellingson (Menomonee Falls, Iowa) would calmly hit a pair of free throws with two seconds left to force the extra period.
 
Drake scored just two points in the overtime period as the squad continued to battle through foul trouble and injury before SUU built up enough of a lead to preserve the home win.
 
"They just kept fighting," DeVries said. "We couldn't get that one last bucket, but I'm proud of these guys and what they're about. Tonight was no different."