DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's basketball team celebrated its Missouri Valley Conference championship and Senior Day with its biggest comeback of the season.
 
The Bulldogs rallied from 10 points down in the second half to send the game into overtime, then dominated the extra session to beat Missouri State 68-60 in the regular-season finale at the Knapp Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
Drake (27-3, 17-3 MVC) wrapped up the regular-season title with a win at Evansville on Wednesday night, then had to work the full 45 minutes to turn back the league's last-place team to finish on a winning note.
 
This is the third straight season Drake has won at least 27 games and the fourth time overall. The 27 victories are the most in program history in the regular season and the 17 league wins are a school record.
 
The school record for overall victories is 28 – a figure achieved last season and in the 2007-08 season.
 
Confetti floated down on the floor as the team gathered at mid-court after the game to pose for photos with the championship trophy. The players and coaches later took turns cutting down the nets.
 
Bennett Stirtz, as he has so many times this season, led the scoring with 23 points, the eighth time in the last 10 games he has scored at least 20. He tacked on five rebounds and three assists while playing the entire game for the 16th time this season.
 
Tavion Banks came up huge for the Bulldogs with 14 points and 11 rebounds. His two free throws with 9.5 seconds left tied the game at 59 and produced the overtime. In the extra five minutes, he scored twice and controlled the glass with five rebounds, including one on the offensive end that secured the victory.
 
Isaia Howard added nine points and five rebounds off the bench and hit a 3-pointer to help the Bulldogs outscore the Bears 9-1 in overtime. Daniel Abreu contributed six points and seven rebounds and Mitch Mascari hit two 3-pointers to help Drake rally in the second half to finish with six points.
 
Abreu, Mascari, Isaiah Jackson and Nate Ferguson were honored in the postgame Senior Day activities. Next up for the Bulldogs: The quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament in St. Louis at noon on Friday, against the winner of Thursday's game between Indiana State and Southern Illinois.
 
"I think that cutting down the nets is one of the coolest parts of winning a championship," Drake head coach Ben McCollum said. "It's a culmination of guys that came out here and fought and competed and did it for a whole season. I think coming in, whenever we came in, April, May, whenever that was, and coming together and getting this group connected was a big deal. It was fun. Now, hopefully we can get on to Arch Madness and see how we can do there."
 
Missouri State (9-22, 2-18) gave the Bulldogs headaches with its outside shooting and aggressive, double-teaming defense, which disrupted Drake for long stretches. The Bears, who had shot just 27.6 percent from deep in the previous four games, went 10-for-17 from behind the arc in regulation before misfiring twice in the overtime. Dez White led Missouri State with 17 points and Vincent Brady II scored 16, with both going 4-for-6 on 3-pointers.
 
Missouri State had the last shot of regulation, but White was short on a jumper from the right side. The Bulldogs then flipped a switch and ran off the first nine points of overtime to put it out of reach.
 
Stirtz hit a turnaround jump shot to get things started and give Drake its first lead since its 29-28 edge at halftime.  Howard found Banks for a layup, then knocked down his 3 from the left corner.
 
After Banks rebounded another Missouri State miss – the Bears went 0-for-5 in the overtime – Howard misfired on another 3-point shot. But he followed his shot, dove to save the ball from going out of bounds and got it to Banks for a layup that made it 68-59 with 1:30 left.
 
Stirtz missed a jump shot on Drake's next possession, but Banks came away with the rebound and the Bulldogs allowed the shot clock to expire with 9 seconds left. Howard then fouled on purpose so Ferguson could come out of the game to an ovation from the crowd of 5,122.
 
Drake emerged from a tightly contested first half with its one-point edge on the 10th lead change of the period. The Bulldogs trailed 25-19 before finishing the half with a 12-3 run that Banks started with a line-drive 3-pointer. He had been just 1-for-21 from deep before making that shot.
 
Missouri State started the second half with a 12-1 run to open a 40-30 lead, the largest deficit Drake has faced this season. The Bears held the Bulldogs without a basket for more than 4 ½ minutes and Drake had to play catchup the rest of the way.
 
The Bulldogs tied it three times before Banks hit is two late free throws, but they never got the lead again until Stirtz scored 14 seconds into the overtime.
 
This was Drake's fifth overtime game this season and the Bulldogs have won all five, including a 69-62 victory at Missouri State on Jan. 25.
 
It was the last regular-season game between the two. Missouri State is leaving the Valley at the end of the school year to join Conference USA.
 
TEAM NOTES
—Drake improved to 27-3 overall, marking the third straight year the Bulldogs have won 27 or more games in a season and fourth time in school history (2007-08: 28-5; 2022-23: 27-8; 2023-24: 28-7)
—Drake's 27-3 record is the best mark in school history after 30 games.
—Drake's 27 victories are tied with Auburn for the most wins by an NCAA Division I school this season.
—The Bulldogs improved their Missouri Valley Conference record to 17-3, marking the first time in school history a Drake team has won 17 conference games.
—Drake is 14-2 at home this season, including an 8-2 league home mark.
—Ben McCollum ranks second on the list of first-year coaching wins at Drake at 27, trailing only Keno Davis who went 28-5 in his first year at Drake in 2007-08.
—First-year Drake head coach Ben McCollum improved his career coaching record to 421-94 ranking No. 5 on the all-time collegiate coaches list in winning percentage (.818).
—Over the last 10 seasons McCollum has gone 78-6 in the month of February, including an 8-1 mark at Drake.
—Drake improved to 24-1 when leading at halftime after owning a 29-28 intermission lead against Missouri State.
—Drake improved to 5-0 in overtime games this season including two victories against Missouri State (69-62 in Springfield Jan. 25). Drake also beat Kansas State (73-70), Indiana State (85-81) and UNI (64-58)
—Drake shot 52.4 percent (11-21) in the first half against Missouri State marking the 20th game this season the Bulldogs shot 50 percent or better in the first half. 
—Drake outrebounded Missouri State, 37-25, to improve to 22-1 when outrebounding opponents
—Drake grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, marking the 18th game the Bulldogs had collected 10-plus offensive rebounds in a game.
—The Bulldogs scored 15 second chance points compared to seven by Missouri State.
—Drake's bench outscored Missouri State's reserves, 28-5.
—There were 12 lead changes and five ties in the game.
—Drake held Missouri State without a basket for the last 7:48 of the game (last 2:48 of regulation and the entire 5-minute overtime)
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
—Junior guard Bennett Stirtz enjoyed his 16th 20-plus scoring games (29th in career) with 23 points, including 12 in the first half.
—Junior Tavion Banks came off the bench scoring 14 points, including nine after the second half, along with a game-high 11 rebounds.
—It marked Banks' second double-double this season.
—Freshman reserve Isaia Howard tallied nine points, while collecting five rebounds.
—Graduate Daniel Abreu added seven rebounds
—Stirtz moved from No. 12 to No. 11 on the Drake single-season scoring list with 568 points, passing Rayvonte Rice who had 555 in 2011-12.
—Stirtz ranks No. 4 on the Drake single-season assists list at 178.
—Stirtz is the only player in the NCAA this season who has collected more than 500 points (568), 170 assists (178) and 60 steals (66)
—Drake improved to 16-0 when Banks scores in double figures.
—Graduate Mitch Mascari moved from No. 9 on Drake single-season three-point basket made list to No. 7 at 84, passing Eric Berger (1988-89) and Klayton Korver (2007-08) who each had 83.
 
THE SERIES
—Drake swept the regular season series against Missouri State but still trails in the overall series to the Bears, 49-25.
—The Bulldogs own a 15-19 record in games played in Des Moines