ST. LOUIS -- Loyola held off Drake, 64-58, to win the championship game of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament despite going the last 5:08 of the game without making a basket, scoring its last 10 points at the free throw line. 

"I thought we came out of the gates well," head coach Darian DeVries said. "Loyola's pressure in the first half had us on our heels. We wanted to get into attack mode and I thought our guys did a decent job of that. Loyola is a tough team to get by."
 
Guard Roman Penn led Drake with 18 points, including 12 in the second half, while dishing out four assists. Freshman Tucker DeVries added 15 points, while setting a career high with five blocked shots. DeVries moved into No. 7 on the MVC freshman single season scoring list with 474 points

DeVries and Penn were selected to the MVC All-Tournament team.

The Ramblers maintained the lead throughout the entire second half. After two free throws by Penn, putting Drake behind 43-40, the Ramblers went on a 7-2 run to erect a 50-42 advantage. Two free throws by Penn pulled Drake within two points at 55-53 with 1:44 left. Loyola made five free throws to push its lead to 60-53 with 39.7 seconds left.

Drake wasn't done, with Tremell Murphy hitting a 3-point basket to get Drake within 60-56 with 32.2 seconds left. Penn added two more free throws with 22.8 seconds to make it 60-58. Forced to foul, Drake sent Loyola to the free throw line in the waning seconds with the Ramblers making four free throws. The Bulldogs, who had a season-best seven-game winning streak snapped, slipped to 24-10. 

With DeVries scoring seven points, Drake raced to an 18-8 lead before going 6:51 without scoring (8:45-1:53) missing seven shots while committing five turnovers. That drought enabled Loyola to go on a 19-0 run, grabbing a 27-18 lead fueled by seven points by Schweiger. 

The Bulldogs closed out the half with a 7-0 run with four points from Penn to pull within 27-25..

DeVries also grabbed eight rebounds and three assists. He moved into No. 2 on the Drake freshman single-season rebounding list at 152 - just one shy of tying the school record of 153 set by Jacob Enevold (2013-14).

DeVries made three 3-point baskets, marking the 13th time this season he has made three or more treys, including the second straight game in the tourney. Devries enjoyed his 29th double-digit scoring game. 

Senior ShanQuan Hemphill collected a team-high 10 rebounds, marking his third double-figure rebounding game of the season and the sixth time in his career. Garrett Sturtz, who scored seven points, had four steals, pushing his MVC Tournament total to eight. It was his ninth game with three or more steals.

Drake recorded a season-high eight blocked shots and the Bulldogs scored 23 points off Loyola turnovers.

"The support we have gotten from our fans is truly special," DeVries said. "You look up in the crowd tonight and see a big wave of Drake blue. The enthusiasm, energy and passion that the fans have for our team. I can't tell you how much we appreciate all of the people that came down to support us. I love to see how it's (the support) growing and hopefully we can continue to grow that."
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Guard Roman Penn led Drake with 18 points, including 12 in the second half, while dishing out four assists…Freshman Tucker DeVries added 15 points, while setting a career high with five blocked shots. DeVries moved into No. 7 on the MVC freshman single season scoring list with 474 points. DeVries also grabbed eight rebounds and three assists. He moved into No. 2 on the Drake freshman single-season rebounding list at 152 - just one shy of tying the school record of 153 set by Jacob Enevlold (2013-14)...DeVries made three 3-point baskets, marking the 13th time this season he has made three or more treys, including the second straight game in the tourney. Devries enjoyed his 29th double-digit scoring game. Senior ShanQuan Hemphill collected a team-high 10 rebounds,marking his third double-figure rebounding game of the season and the sixth time in his career...Garrett Sturtz, who scored seven points, had four steals, pushing his MVC Tournament total to eight. It was his ninth game with three or more steals.
 
TEAM NOTES
The Bulldogs, who had a season-best seven-game winning streak snapped, slipped to 24-10. Drake's MVC Tournament record fell to 23-43 including a 3-2 mark as the No. 3 seed, a 1-2 record in the championship and an 0-2 mark against Loyola…Drake recorded a season-high eight blocked shots….Drake scored 23 points off Loyola turnovers.