No Stopping These Bulldogs! Drake Advances in NCAA Tournament!

There is a lot of chatter around Drake men's basketball coach Ben McCollum lately. But that topic will have to wait. The Drake Bulldogs out of the Missouri Valley Conference are moving on in the NCAA Tournament!

If you'd never watched Drake until last night's first-round game against Missouri, you saw a classic Bulldog effort. Stiffling defense. Taking the shot clock down to under five seconds on nearly every possession. And you saw one of the best players in the country you've never heard of shine in the NCAA Tournament. CBS2 reports that Drake star Bennett Stirtz scored a team-high 21 points and 11 seed Drake would go on to top 6 seed Missouri 67-57 Thursday night.

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First-year Drake coach Ben McCollum and his band of Division II transfers led Missouri by as many as 15 points before holding on for the ten-point victory. Tavian Banks added 15 points and 9 rebounds for Drake as the Bulldogs improved to 31-3 on the season according to CBS2.

Drake secured the ten-point win despite shooting just 12 of 24 from the free-throw line according to CBS2. The win snaps Drake's four-game losing streak in first-round NCAA Tournament games. It was Drake's first NCAA Tournament win since 1971!

Drake tries to keep its dream season going on Saturday as they play for a spot in the Sweet 16. The last time the Bulldogs advanced that far was 1971.

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