ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Drake men's basketball team made more Missouri Valley Conference Tournament history on Friday afternoon as it became the first No. 9 seed to advance to the semifinal round with an upset victory over No.1 seed Belmont, 100-79.
 
What was par for the course this season between Drake and Belmont, the first nine shots of the game were from three-point land. In the two prior meetings during the regular season Drake made 17 and 14 triples, and Belmont made 11 and 17. While the Bruins sunk four from distance, the Bulldogs answered with back-to-back threes by Andrew Alia and Jalen Quinn to knot the game at 15-15 with 13:43 on the clock.
 
The offensive efficiency remained on display from deep as the game reached the under-8 media timeout. Another Alia splash from outside pulled the Bulldogs ahead, 22-20, but the combination of the Larry Bird Player of the Year, Tyler Lundblade, and Sam Orme rallied Belmont back in front, 30-26.
 
Down the stretch of the first half the momentum swung in favor of the Bulldogs, however. Drake closed the half on a 14-6 run led by Owen Larson and Eli Shetlar. Larson led the Bulldogs to a 48-41 lead at the break scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and hitting 3-of-5 shots from distance. Shetlar chipped in with a three-ball of his own and a dunk for five points. Quinn finished the half with 12 points. Overall, the Bulldogs shot a blistering 50-percent (8-16) from deep and 62-percent (18-29) from the field in the first 20 minutes of action.
 
Drake's efficient shooting continued to start out the second half as the Bulldogs lead extended out to 16 with just over 14 minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs hit seven of their first 10 shots of the period as Jaehshon Thomas came off the bench with a burst for seven points. Meanwhile, Larson kept up his hot shooting with five quick ones.
 
After a small scoring drought from both squads, Drake maintained its double-digit lead by getting to the free throw line. It was the first play after the under-8 timeout, however, that pushed the Bulldog lead to 19, 76-57, with Larson converting an and-one reverse layup.
 
Despite Belmont trying to apply the defensive pressure with the full court press to force Drake into turnovers, the Bulldogs remained composed and only turned the ball over once due to the added pressure. Belmont was then forced to foul, but Drake made its free throws, extended its lead to as much to 22, and secured its eighth consecutive trip the MVC Tournament semifinals.
 
"It's incredible. The togetherness that we've shown, the confidence that we've shown, the resiliency that we've shown, and, honestly, we had a great amount of belief," Drake head coach Eric Henderson said. "I know there wasn't much belief outside of our locker room and you'll never know what is going to click and when it's going to click and maybe we found something."
 
Drake will play No. 5 UIC on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
 
MVC Tournament Notes
—Drake posted its 11th straight MVC Tournament victory - the longest tournament winning streak ever by an MVC school.
—This marked just the second time the No. 1 seed has ever lost in the quarterfinal round, the other being 2020 when then No. 8 seed Drake upended top-seeded UNI, 77-56, in the quarterfinal round.
—This marks the first time the No. 9 seed has ever won two MVC Tournament games and advanced to the semifinal round.
—The No. 9 seed is 20-31 in the MVC Tournament.
—This marked the first time a team had scored 100 points in the MVC Tournament since Drake beat Evansville, 101-96 in overtime in the first round of the 2007 tournament.
—Belmont's 37 3-point attempts are the most ever in an MVC Tournament game, topping the previous record of 36 by Illinois State last year (3/7/25) against Belmont.
The Bruins' 14 3-pointers was just two shy of the all-time record in MVC Tourney games.
 
Team Notes 
—Drake, earning its second straight win, improved to 14-19 under first-year coach Eric Henderson.
—The Bulldogs moved their MVC Tournament record to 34-43 including a 6-4 mark as a No. 9 seed, while advancing to the semifinal round for the eighth straight year dating back to 2019 and 14th time in program history.
—Drake shot 59.6 percent (31-52) marking its eighth game shooting 50 percent or better, but first time over the last nine contests.
—Drake made 11 three-point baskets, marking the 10th game in which they made 10 or more treys in a game, including 17 and 14 treys in previous two meetings against Belmont.
—Drake had 21 assists, marking the fourth game collecting 20 or more assists this season.
—Drake outrebounded Belmont, 33-29, moving to 9-5 when outrebounding opponents.
—Drake owned a 48-41 halftime lead improving to 9-4 when leading at half.
—Drake moved to 4-1 in neutral site games.
 
Drake Player Notes
—Senior transfer Jalen Quinn enjoyed his 18th 20-plus scoring game with 31 points including 12 in the first half.
—Quinn became just the third player in Drake history to score 30-plus points five times in a season joining Lewis Lloyd (1979-80, 1980-81) and Red Murrell (1956-56, 1957-58) who both did it twice.
—Quinn moved into No. 6 on the school single-season scoring list, passing Willie McCarter (1968-69, 633) at 624 points.
—Quinn set career highs for free throws made (13) and attempts (16).
—Sophomore guard Owen Larson posted his third 20-plus scoring game with a career-high 25 points, while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
—Larson tied his career high with four three-point baskets, while enjoying his sixth game with three or more three-pointers
—Senior guard Jaehshon Thomas added 13 points, including 11 in the second half.
—It was Thomas' 14th double-digit scoring game of the season but first over the last nine games. Thomas was scoreless in Drake's first round win against Southern Illinois Thursday.
—Redshirt sophomore guard Eli Shetlar collected 12 points.
 
The Series
—Drake, which snapped a two-game losing skid to Belmont, leads the series against the Bruins, 6-4, including a 2-0 mark in the MVC Tournament.