PEORIA, Ill. – Tucker DeVries scored a game-high 20 points as the Drake University men's basketball team fell to Bradley by a final score of 68-59 at Carver Arena on Saturday night.
 
"We have some things that we need to figure out as a coaching staff and as a team," head coach Darian DeVries said. "We have to be better offensively and figure out how to get better ball movement so we can get players in better positions."
 
Drake took a 14-13 lead with 8:58 left in the opening half on a Roman Penn floater. Both teams exchanged baskets until Tucker DeVries drilled a jumper from the charity stripe for a 27-25 advantage with 1:03 left before halftime.
 
Zek Montgomery answered with a wing triple in the final minute as Bradley led 28-27 at the break.
 
ShanQuan Hemphill got downhill and converted a driving layup four minutes into the second half for a 36-35 Drake advantage.
 
Rienk Mast got hot from beyond the arc to help the Braves pull away. Mast connected on back-to-back treys at the 10:33 and 10:12 minute marks to put Bradley ahead 50-42.
 
Tucker DeVries put down a 2-handed slam dunk as the Bulldogs were within seven points (53-46) with 8:21 to go.
 
"I thought Tucker did a nice job," DeVries said. "He let everything come to him and able to get opportunities at the rim to keep us in it. We just didn't have enough tonight."
 
The Braves saw their largest lead (60-47) of the night with 6:12 remaining in regulation after a Ville Tahvanainen layup. The Bulldogs battled until the final whistle when the score was 68-59 in favor of the home team.
 
Up next on the schedule for Drake men's basketball is Relays Night against Evansville inside the Knapp Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 16).
  
TEAM NOTES  
•Drake suffering its third straight MVC loss, slipped to 17-9 overall, including an 8-5 league mark entering a conference game with Evansville Wednesday.
•The Bulldogs had a five-game road winning streak snapped, having its road record fall to 6-2.
•This marked the first time Drake has three straight conference games since the 2017-18 campaign when the Bulldogs fell to Loyola (80-57), Evansville (77-73) and Southern Illinois (78-67), 
•Drake tied a season low with 20 field goals as well as four assists.
•This also marked the second straight game in which Drake only made three three-point baskets.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
•Drake Freshman swingman Tucker DeVries scored a game-high 20 points, including 11 in the first half. 
•It marked DeVries' third 20-plus scoring game of the season.
•Guard Roman Penn added 11 points, while tying a season high with three steals.
•Forward ShanQuan Hemphill played in his first game ever against Bradley, responding with nine points and five rebounds.
•Tremell Muprhy led Drake with eight rebounds, while tying a career high with three assists.
•DeVries and Garrett Sturtz collected seven rebounds apiece.
•Center Dranell Brodie tied a career high with two steals
 
THE SERIES
•Bradley, winning its third straight game, improved its series record against Drake to 92-68. The Braves are 54-22 against Drake in Peoria.