ST. LOUIS — The third time is supposed to be the charm, but Drake seems to be ignoring the rules.

Creighton lost for a third time to the Bulldogs, this time in the semi-finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis on Saturday. Drake went on to win the championship game on Sunday, beating Illinois State, also for the third time.

“They are a good basketball team,” said Creighton head coach Dana Altman. “We had three opportunities against Drake this year and we just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The loss leaves Creighton (21-10) wondering about their post-season future, though an NCAA Tournament bid looks unlikely.

“I think you’ve got to be honest and you’ve got to self-evaluate your team,” he said “This isn’t one of those years we can say we belong. We don’t have enough top-50 wins. We had our opportunities and we weren’t tough enough to get it done.”

A 17-3 run by Drake to end the first half gave the Bulldogs a 30-21 lead at the half. Creighton opened the second half with a 7-0 run of their own to pull within two, but it was the closest the Jays would come. MVC Player of the Year Adam Emmenecker led Drake with 20 points and 11 assists.

Creighton freshman guard P’Allen Stinnett paced the Bluejays with 18 points.

“Drake is a great ball club,” said Stinnett, who ended the season as the first Creighton freshman to lead the team in scoring since Rodney Buford during the 1995-1996 season. “It just didn’t go our way tonight.”

Creighton was in the semi-finals due to a 74-70 win over Bradley on Friday.

The Jays were led by sophomore point guard Cavel Witter who scored 15 points, including the final 10 points of the game, and two free-throws with less than five seconds left to seal the win.

Witter’s effort in the tournament came only six days after he scored a career-high 42 points against the Braves in a 111-110 double overtime victory on senior night at the Qwest Center.

“I just try to go out there and play,” Witter said. “I don’t try to go out there and score a lot. I just try to make plays and make things happen.”

Creighton will likely earn a bid to the National Invitational Tournament. Should that happen, it will be Creighton’s 11th consecutive post-season appearance, which is a conference record. Currently, only 10 school nationally have received 10 straight post-season bids.