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In the climax of a wild Arch Madness 2020, the Bradley Braves knocked off the Valparaiso Crusaders 80-66 in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game on Sunday in St. Louis at Enterprise Center.
Senior guard Darrell Brown led all Bradley players with 21 points and nine assists, and heads back to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
The Braves polished off back to back titles as the No. 4 seed after doing so last year as the No. 5 seed. They are only the fourth Division I team since 2000 to win back-to-back conference tournaments as a No. 4 seed or higher, with Michigan in 2017-18 being the last.
No. 1 seed Northern Iowa was the favorite at -118 to win the title, but once they were shockingly upset in the first round, Bradley ticket holders at +600 had to feel pretty good. Three of the four lesser-seeded teams won in the MVC quarterfinals, sometimes in dramatic fashion. A Valpo bettor had to feel good about the value they had at +4000 today, but it wasn’t meant to be.
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