EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- — Daniel Abreu scored 19 points as Drake beat Evansville 65-61 on Wednesday night, clinching the outright Missouri Valley Conference championship for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

Abreu added five rebounds for the Bulldogs (26-3, 16-3 Missouri Valley Conference). Tavion Banks scored 15 points and added five rebounds. Bennett Stirtz had 14 points and shot 5 of 10 from the field, including 1 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 3 from the line.

Tayshawn Comer led the Purple Aces (11-19, 8-11) in scoring, finishing with 20 points. Evansville also got 14 points from Tanner Cuff. Gabriel Pozzato also had nine points, six rebounds and four assists.

Drake went into halftime leading 38-27. Abreu scored 11 points in the half. Abreu's layup with 9:04 left in the second half gave Drake the lead for good at 50-49.

NEXT UP

Both teams close out the regular season on Sunday. Drake hosts Missouri State and Evansville plays Illinois State on the road.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.