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Drake hoping for berth in MVC championship game

Mar 8, 2008 - 2:43 PM Creighton (21-9) vs. No. 21 Drake (26-4) 2:30 pm EST

ST LOUIS (Ticker) - No. 21 Drake looks to continue on its path to the Missouri Valley championship when it meets Creighton in the conference semifinals Saturday.

The Bulldogs, who are the top seed in the tournament for the first time in school history, are making their first appearance in the MVC semifinals since 1993. Drake rolled to a 68-46 victory over Indiana State in the quarterfinal round on Friday.

The Bulldogs are two wins away from officially clinching their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1971, but the top seed has not won the MVC tournament since 1998.

"I know there was a lot of people that have talked about the No. 1 seed and not having won the tournament, we've answered the questions, but that's really not been our focus." Bulldogs coach Keno Davis said. "Our focus is to see how hard we can play, and it seems pretty simple. But if we came in that locker room with that kind of effort and it wasn't enough, I would be just as proud."

In Friday's win, Adam Emmenecker had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Drake, which won both meetings from Creighton in the regular season.

The Bluejays blew an 18-point lead but hung on to defeat Bradley, 74-70, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Cavel Witter led four players in double figures with 15 points, including the final six for Creighton in the last 2:25 of the contest. After Bradley went in front by one, Witter's layup gave the Bluejays the lead for good at 70-69 with under 2 1/2 minutes to play.