ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Drake men's basketball teams Missouri Valley Conference Tournament run came to an end on Saturday afternoon as it fell to the UIC Flames in the semifinal round, 71-52.
 
Drake struggled to find its rhythm, starting just 2-of-10 from the field while the Flames used a 7-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. After UIC missed four straight shots, Drake trimmed the deficit to 13-10.
 
The Flames responded following the under-12 media timeout with eight consecutive points, including six from Mekhi Lowery, pushing the advantage to 21-10 and forcing a Drake timeout. UIC extended the lead to its largest margin of the half at 23-10 completing a 10-0 run.
 
Drake began to chip away as Okku Federiko ended the run at the 7:51 mark, sparking a 7-0 Bulldog stretch capped by five straight points from Jalen Quinn. Drake closed within 29-25 late, but UIC responded to take a 34-27 halftime, while controlling the glass 21-12.
 
Drake trimmed the deficit when Eli Shetlar knocked down a three-pointer at the 14:42 mark to make it 43-39, the Bulldogs' closest margin since trailing 13-10 in the first half. UIC then answered with a 6-2 spurt to push the lead to 49-41.
 
Drake missed eight consecutive field goals and went 6:12 without a basket, allowing UIC to extend the lead to 60-46 following a 7-0 run — the largest margin of the game to that point. UIC added another 7-0 surge to stretch the advantage to 67-49. Rashund Washington Jr. poured in 12 of his career-high 23 points in the second half as the Flames shot 52 percent compared to Drake's 25 percent and closed the game on a dominant 12-2 run.
 
Team Notes
—The Bulldogs, who had a two-game winning streak snapped, closed the season with a 14-20 record under first-year coach Eric Henderson.
—The Bulldogs MVC Tournament record fell to 34-44, including a 6-5 mark as the No. 9 seed.
—Drake tied a season low with 18 field goals, while the 28 rebounds and the .321 field goal percentage were the second lowest of the season.
—There were two lead changes and one tie in the game
 
Player Notes
—Senior transfer Jalen Quinn led Drake with 14 points, his 30th double-digit scoring game of season.
—Quinn moved into No. 5 on the school single-season scoring list at 669, passing Red Murrell who scored 668 points in the 1957-58 season.
—Sophomore guard Owen Larson had 12 points, posting his fifth straight double figure scoring game (11th of season).
—Larson also dished out a team high five assists.
—Redshirt guard Eli Shetlar made three three-point baskets, marking the 12th time he's made three or more treys in a game.
—Shetlar moved into a tie for No. 14 on the Drake single-season three-point baskets made list at 77 with Ben Simons (2011-12)
—Shetlar also moved into a tie with Simons (2012-13) for No. 12 on the Drake single-season three-point field goals attempted list at 195
—Senior Isaiah Carr came off the bench to lead Drake with five rebounds.
—Carr moved into tie for No. 10 on the Drake single-season blocked shot list at 37 with Tremell Murphy (2021-22)
—Sophomore Okku Federiko had five points, four rebounds and a team-high two steals.
—With the injury to Andrew Alia during Friday's quarterfinal round win vs. Belmont, senior transfer Jaehshon Thomas made his 13th start of the season for Drake-his first since a Feb. 15 game at UNI. Thomas came off the bench scoring 13 points, including 11 in the second half, to key Drake's 100-79 victory past No. 1 seed Belmont Friday.
 
The Series
—UIC won its third straight game against Drake but still trails in the overall series 11-6